Starting Over
by HmGirly
Summary: Siblings Jill and Jack came to isolated Mineral Town in the hopes of making new lives for themselves. She found something she never thought she'd find... he found something he never planned on looking for. Last chapter!
1. Chapter 1

**WE'RE SAVED! It's **_**finally **_**been rewritten – a long overdue update, believe me.**

**So... this has had the first twenty or so chapters fixed up – not exactly the plot, just the spelling/grammar, characterization, and things like that. There are instances where the plot is rushed, and some cases – previous readers will already know – where I can't salvage some poor little characters from major OOCness because it's so vital later on in the story. And I still suggest that you read the first five or so chapters with your eyes closed.**

**But... I'm a lot happier with how it is now. I'm not so embarrassed anymore. So, I hope you all enjoy the changes.**

**A huge amount of gratitude goes to DoubleKK for taking on the tedious job of reading the rewritten chapters. She had to wait a long time between them, and I hope she realizes that I appreciate it a lot :D**

_**- Hannah.**_

**Disclaimer: I don't, and unfortunately never will, own Harvest Moon.**

**xxx**

As a rooster crowed loudly in the distance, Jillian Evans promptly fell out of bed, with not the slightest clue as to what had just awoken her. Groaning and rubbing her back, she rose onto shaking legs and threw her bedclothes back onto the bed.

Six o'clock, according to her wristwatch. She'd never awoken this early in her life. Gone to bed at this hour, sure.

She gazed around the tiny room with a sigh. Okay, so she wasn't really in any position to complain considering the price she'd got the property for, but... maybe if the house itself was a _little _less shabby – heck, if it even had a kitchen or bathroom – she might be able to look at it with a more positive eye. As it were, her stiff single bed, black and white television and two-person table weren't screaming out 'luxurious, happy home' to her.

Blonde hair was tangled all over her face, obscuring her vision. On a good day, she could get her hair almost behaving. On a bad day, people ran away from her screaming for dear life. Today, it seemed, was not going to be a good day.

A sudden series of sharp knocks sounded from the door, making Jill clap one hand over her mouth to muffle a squeal. What kind of person went around door-knocking in the middle of the night? She slowly, carefully made her way over to the sound, more than ready to do whatever was necessary with the umbrella lying next to her if the person at the front door tried anything funny.

"Good morning, Miss!" a cheerful, tubby man announced. "How are you today?"

"I – I wouldn't know," she mumbled. "I've... only been awake to see thirty seconds of it."

"Excellent, excellent." Jill opened her mouth to point out that it most certainly was _not _excellent, but the man continued. "Well, I am Mayor Thomas. I'm the Mayor." He looked at Jill almost triumphantly, as if expecting her to hug and congratulate him in the most animated terms possible. As she seemed to be having trouble just keeping her eyes open and focussed on him, he hurriedly continued. "You're probably wondering why I'm here."

"Yeah."

"And the answer, my dear girl, is to both welcome you to the village and give you a few pointers on how to run your farm." Jill glanced behind him at the field overrun with weeds, sticks and stones. And, just for good measure, the ocassional boulder or tree stump. She winced.

"So it wasn't a nightmare."

Thomas ignored her and led off into a long spiel on everything to do with farming, while Jill stared at a point over his head blankly. She felt like toast for breakfast, she decided, as he finished off his speech.

"...Sheep and cows. And just in case you need me, You'll find my house to the north of Mineral Town, near the library. Understand?" She nodded very slowly and hesitantly. Thomas laughed. "I dare say a young girl like you will learn quickly enough. But you really should go take a look around town. Visit the shops and become acquainted with the townsfolk, is my advice. Do you need anything else?"

"Not... just now," she replied, stifling a yawn.

"Okay. Have fun!" The mayor gave a funny half-bow and left, nodding as he crossed a large man who was just entering the gate. As the new man came closer to Jill, she raised an eyebrow in surprise. Tanned, buff... although far too old for her, unfortunately. Nevertheless, she woke up significantly. He jumped back in something like horror once he got a good look at her, and only then did Jill become aware of her frightening appearance.

Her eyes widened and she ducked back into her house, looking around frantically for the mirror she didn't own. Deciding to improvise, she looked at the back of her good-for-nothing, unreceptive mobile phone. Wincing and cursing under her breath, she desperately tried to run her fingers through the tangles and get her hair into a slightly neat ponytail. For good measure, she wiped the smudged mascara from under her eyes and pinched her pale cheeks to get some colour into them. The nightgown would have to stay – she hadn't unpacked her clothes yet.

She ran back over to the door and threw it open. The man gave her a teasing, knowing smile, making Jill blush and blink at him in curiosity.

"My name's Zack," he told her, "I'm... in charge of the shipping in Mineral Town. Here..." he led her over to a box next to her field and started explaining the basics of shipping things.

"Can I ship... _anything_ I want?" she asked hopefully, her eyes wandering to the mess on her yard. Zack shook his head regretfully.

"No, Miss. No flowers, weeds, branches, tools, animals... but most things. I'll be sure to tell you if you're trying to ship anything that you shouldn't. You _can_ find herbs and stuff to ship in the mountains if you're struggling for money at the moment – ah, not meaning to offend, it's just that... uh..."

"No, it's okay," she sighed. "I'm guessing it's kind of obvious."

"I – well... anyway, I'll be back around 5pm daily. Except for festival days – I do need a holiday, sometimes! And sorry, what was your name again? Thomas mentioned it, but I'm terrible when it comes to..."

"Jill," she smiled.

"Straight out of a nursery rhyme, hey?" he received a thankless glare. "Er... any questions about shipping, you should be able to find me around town, or in my house at the beach. Take care." He turned and waved over his shoulder as he walked out of the gate.

Jill stepped back into her tiny house and looked around for her suitcases. There was one in the corner... she walked over and examined the note attached to it.

'**The amount of **_1 _**of the category **_Baggage/Suitcases_** delivered to **_Miss Jillian Evans_**, who is residing at **_Harvest Farm_** in **_Mineral Town_**.'**

Jill blinked at the note incredulously a few times, trying to use will-power – or something to that effect – and make the words on it change. She had checked in not one, not two, _six_ suitcases to be transported from the city to here. So why... _why_... was there only ONE?

Trying to suppress the rage that was telling her to break something valuable and fast, she zipped the suitcase open. To her immense relief, it had clothes in it. True, they weren't the most stylish clothes she owned but they were comfortable and practical – six pairs of different coloured overalls that she'd admittedly bought after the purchase of the farm. She needed to look the part, didn't she?

Rummaging further into the case, she found her prized hair straightener – literally a lifeline when your natural hair was anything like hers – a brush, and a fair bit of makeup. And a tin of tomato soup...? Hey, she'd never said that she was going to win a prize for her organized packing skills.

She quickly pulled on the pair of blue overalls, picked up the straightener and looked urgently around the house for a powerpoint. Her heart sank as she came to the conclusion that maybe she'd awoken straight into a horror movie – before, in her desperation, one eye landed on the television set.

She dove behind it and silently thanked the Goddess, as she violently pulled the television cord loose and plugged in her straightener.

Thirty minutes later she was feeling ten times more capable, and headed over to the ancient looking tool box in the corner. Pulling out a funny looking object with a sharp blade in the shape of a crescent, she gave it a half-glare.

"And what kind of... thing... are you supposed to be?" Searching further, she recognised a hammer and an axe, as well as a watering can. The rest of the contents were a mystery to her - like a small yellow round... thing... with a screen on the front, displaying the number zero. She gave it a shake and watched in delight as the numbers flipped higher. Setting it aside, she grabbed the last item in the box. It had a wooden handle and a flat, long metal head. Tossing all the tools except the hammer and axe back into the box, she headed outside, determined to make a start on clearing some land.

**xxx**

Once she was actually standing in the midst of the disaster that called itself a field, the momentum to do any work on it had disappeared completely. She cringed, not knowing where to begin. Who was she kidding? She was no farmer. She hated waking up early. She didn't especially like animals, except for dogs, and her idea of spending quality time outdoors was going to the beach. Even then, she refused to spend time sitting in the sun.

With a sigh, her delicate hands grabbed a particularly long weed and gave a subtle pull. The weed seemed to have different ideas, not moving no matter how hard she tried.

"You know what?" she finally yelled at it, choosing to ignore the fact that she was speaking to a patch of grass, "Fine. Fine! Go ahead and join in proving me wrong, okay? Show everyone that I can't do it! Damn it, they already know that without your help!" Shockingly, the weed made no reaction to her miniature breakdown. Gritting her teeth, she picked up the hammer and axe, walked back into the derelict shack that was now her home, and threw them into the toolbox.

So the actual farm work was a bust already. Honestly, that wasn't a big surprise. A 'passion' for farming certainly wasn't why she came in the first place.

She wanted to start over, in a place where nobody knew anything about her. Where she wasn't described in terms of other people – as someone's daughter, sister, friend – but referred to as Jill, a person in her own right. She could be bubbly or moody, or shy or confident... anyone she wanted to be... and no-one would realise that that wasn't really her at all.

A place of her own. Where no-one would get angry at her for leaving clothes on the floor, or watching television before washing the dishes. (Not that she would. She was a total neat freak, but knowing that she had the choice was what mattered.) She was nineteen and fresh out of high school, more than ready for a little independence. Of course, she was lucky that she'd found this town. The only thing she knew was that it was totally isolated, only reachable by ferry.

_May as well go meet some people in this place, _Jill thought suddenly._ I'm going to be living with them for a long time, after all. _The farmwork wasn't happening at the moment, and neither was going back to sleep, so she simply brushed on a tiny bit of makeup and rushed out of the cramped house. Hopefully, the people here would all be as welcoming as the first two she'd met.

Hopefully.

**xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**xxx**

It was unusually warm as Jill travelled down the road outside her farm. The town was beautiful, she had to admit. Neat rows of cheerful yellow flowers lined both sides of the rust-coloured footpaths, and tall, leafy green trees were scattered beyond.

The buildings themselves were what delighted Jill. From the outside, they looked no bigger than her farmhouse, but they were constructed from brick instead of the same chipped weatherboard as hers.

She turned right into a little lane, to take a closer look at one of the houses. On closer inspection, it wasn't a house at all – more like a shop; with a sign reading 'Blacksmith. Open 10am – 4pm except Thursdays' in the curtained window.

Jill frowned. Was that for real? Sure, this town wasn't as advanced as the city – there was no mobile phone reception at all, as she'd learnt the hard way – but as far as she knew, blacksmiths were what they'd had in England in the middle-ages, to make horseshoes and – well, horseshoes. She attempted to peer inside, but the black curtains were drawn too tightly for her to see a thing.

"Excuse me?" a male voice called from behind her. "What are you doing?"

She jumped away from the building as if she'd been burnt, and turned on her heel to smile nervously at the boy who was now staring at her in total confusion.

"I – I was just... looking," she stuttered nervously. Stepping closer, the boy pulled a blue cap reading the word 'UMA' over his eyes.

"Looking at...?" he asked, making it obvious that he didn't believe her story – which, she had to admit, was sounding pretty weak.

"Just looking. I – I'm new, see, and this is all really different to what I'm used to, and I saw that this sign said it was a blacksmithing shop, and I was really curious to see what it would look like, but the curtains were closed, so I couldn't see, and... to be honest, I d-don't really know where I'm going with this explanation. But I mean, what on earth is a blacksmith's shop doing here in this day and age? Even you have to admit it's pretty strange, right?" her nervous rambling trailed off into mumbles.

He gave her a funny look, then glanced at the building behind her. "I work there," he said shortly. Jill blanched.

"R-really? It's... a very cute little shop."

"I thought you couldn't see anything inside?"

"I... meant the outside."

"Right..." he answered sceptically. In the silence that followed, Jill desperately racked her brain for something to say. Anything!

"So you... uh, like horses?" she asked.

He gave her another look. "No."

The blonde laughed nervously. "I mean... I did Japanese in high school – I don't remember much, but I thought that UMA meant horse." The boy raised an eyebrow at her. "Y-you know, like... on your hat?"

"Okay." He walked past Jill and opened the door of the blacksmith's shop. Jill glared after him in disbelief, but made one last desperate attempt at friendship - or at the very least, civility.

"My name's Jill!" she called after him. "I'm from the city and - and I've bought the farm..." He finally stopped and turned to face her, with a half smirk on his face.

"I'm Gray. Welcome to the boonies." And without another word, he shut the door behind him firmly. Jill stood there in shock for a few moments. _That_ certainly could have gone better. She turned to continue down the road, but was stopped by Gray's voice again.

"Hey, Jill." She span around again hurriedly, to see him holding the door open. "Do you still want to see the inside?"

She hesitated, before smiling and nodding thankfully. When she was standing inside, she blinked, struggling to become accustomed to the thick, steamy air and the prominent scent of metal.

Gray half-smirked, watching her muffle a cough. "It takes some getting used to."

"What do you do here?" she asked, squinting her blue eyes.

"You should... probably ask my grandfather," he replied, a hint of resentment in his voice. "He'll get mad if I give you the wrong information."

"What do you –"

"Boy! You're late!" an elderly man walked out of a door to the right, his face contorted into a scowl. When he noticed Jill, the scowl relaxed. "Who's this young lady?"

"I'm Jill," she said softly, a little afraid of the old man. "I'm, uh... the new farmer. It's my first day."

"Nice to meet you," he said. "I hope this grandson of mine isn't causing you any strife?"

"Not at all," she laughed. Gray scowled and walked over to a burning furnace, picking up a tool and submerging it.

"So as a farmer, I'm guessing you'll be a loyal customer here, am I right?" he asked. Jill smiled nervously and shrugged.

"I... guess so..."

"Of course you will. Now you come back anytime you need help – it can't be easy for a young lady, trying to run a farm by herself. Gray would be more than happy to come over if you need him to help out. Wouldn't you, boy?" he finished sharply. Gray grunted in reply, and Jill half-smiled, before backing towards the door.

"I should probably keep going, but I – I'll definitely come back often. Goodbye!"

"Bye," Gray called in a disinterested tone. Saibara glared at him, then smiled and nodded to Jill as she left.

After walking only a few more steps, Jill saw another building, this time surrounded by a dirt field and what looked like many chicken coops. As she turned to walk in the gate, a female voice started shrieking.

"Wait a second! Wait, come back!"

Puzzled, Jill looked around for the source of the voice... and saw a wild-looking chicken running at her full pelt. She gave a piercing scream and closed her eyes quickly as the chicken flapped into her arms. When she opened them again, she saw a girl about her age standing in front of her, hands on her hips. She was pretty, with pink hair and brown - almost red, in fact - eyes.

"Bad chicken!" the girl scolded. "Don't you _dare_ run away again!" It was then that she noticed Jill. "Hey," she said cheerfully. "Thanks for helping me out." Jill shrugged and smiled fearfully. "I don't think I've seen you around before?" The girl continued. "My name's Popuri. How do you do?"

"J-Jill... my n-name is..." the blonde stuttered, absolutely terrified of the chicken she was holding.

"Oh, right! You're the new girl over at Harvest Farm, huh? Nice to meet you!"

"R-right... same – same here," Jill replied, obviously not interested in making small-talk at the present time.

"So," Popuri continued obliviously. "Do you like chickens, Jill?"

"N-no," she said immediately. "They're... kind of scary." Popuri's face went bright red in anger, and she snatched the white ball of feathers away from Jill.

"But - but they're so cute! Goddess, what are you even doing here? It's a chicken farm after all, full of chickens that you _hate_, right? Sorry to make you... you know, touch a chicken! Ugh!" She gave Jill an evil glare, grabbed the chicken and walked off.

"No – listen, I didn't mean..." Jill called, to no avail. The girl kept walking, before pushing open the doors of a house and storming in, chicken under her arm.

She turned around and nearly fell into the boy standing directly behind her. "Argh!" Jill yelled. "Sorry! I'm... sorry, I didn't notice you there." The boy had shoulder length blonde hair and glasses.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "I'm Rick." He extended a hand and Jill looked at it, confused, before dumbly realising that he wanted her to shake it.

"I'm Jill, and I'm the new girl running the farm."

"Never heard of a farmer who's scared of chickens," he replied teasingly.

Jill giggled. "Oh you heard that, huh? That girl is... way too chicken obsessed. I mean, you guys better hope you have a mental institute around here, because –" she started laughing but stopped when she noticed that Rick wasn't joining in.

He nodded seriously. "Yes, my sister can be a bit over the top." Jill stared at him, horrified.

"Your – your... your sister? But when I say chicken obsessed, I mean... I mean... don't even listen to me. I'm crazy, myself." She blushed.

Rick laughed. "It doesn't matter. So, have you met everyone yet?" Jill shook her head sheepishly.

"No. Only uh... I think it was Gray?" Rick nodded, "And his grandfather... and you and your sister. You're the nicest so far."

He smiled and shook his head, "Well then, I'd better take you round and introduce you to everyone else in town, before you get yourself in any more trouble. Come on, let's go."

**xxx**

"Stop, stop!" Jill cried. She had been following Rick around for hours and hours meeting people, steadily lagging further behind him, until she couldn't go on. Rick looked behind in a panic.

"Jill, are you okay? Do you need to go to the clinic?"

"No, no. I'm... okay, just tired from walking so much, I guess." He looked at her, confused.

"Walking so much? We've barely walked at all! How come you're so thin if you don't walk a lot?"

"It's called a gym! And... fast metabolism, I guess. And you should never ask a girl something like that," she glared.

"Who's Ajim?" Rick replied.

"Ah! Never mind. I'm okay now, so let's keep going. So who've I met so far?"

"Saibara, Gray and Popuri, my mother..."

"What was her name again?"

"Lillia. And Barley and May, then there's Duke, Doug and Ann..."

"Who?"

"The ones in the inn! I swear, Jill, you have the worst memory in the world. Okay, we're going to meet Anna and Basil, then we'll go next door to the library and meet their daughter, Mary." He pushed open the door in front of him and stepped in with a smile, before his expression changed to terror and he beckoned for Jill to leave.

"Rick?" a loud, sing-song female voice called, sounding thrilled to see him. "Come in! Who's that you've got with you? Is it Karen? Ka-ren!" Rick cleared his throat to begin talking, but a short woman with shoulder length, dark hair barreled past him and stopped in exaggerated shock when she saw Jill. "My, my. Anna, come here!"

"What is it, Manna?" an impatient sounding voice called from inside. Clutching Jill's elbow tightly, Manna pulled her in and pushed her into the middle of the room like she was in a show.

"Rick has a new girlfriend!" Manna gasped in 'realisation'. "Pretty little thing, isn't she? My goodness gracious, Karen must be heartbroken."

"Hello, dear," Anna called in interest. "What's your name?"

"It's... Jill," she said nervously. Manna raised an eyebrow.

"And what brings you to Mineral Town, hmm? Did you perhaps meet Rick through letter-writing? Oh! And you two fell in love? So you thought you'd come here and get married and take over the Poultry Farm, hmm? I think I should warn you, darling, about what Rick may not have told you – forgive me, Rick, she needs to know. Rick has a girlfriend... Karen!" she gestured wildly, as if expecting Jill to fly into a rage and begin beating the bespectacled young man.

"That's nice," Jill replied, obviously confused out of her mind. Manna frowned.

"Oh dear. I don't know where you come from, Jill, was it? But here, we're firm believers in monogamy. One partner for everyone, you know? Now I, of course, completely support you 'crazy' young lovers – but I'm afraid that not everybody is as laid-back or liberal minded as me. You could have a potential uprising on your hands, you know. People might try to kick you out of the town, and –"

"Manna," Rick said.

"– If you're not careful, you might find that –"

"Manna," he repeated, a little bit more urgently.

"– Could potentially _ruin _Karen's reputation, if –"

"MANNA!"

"Temper, Rick darling."

"I only met Jill _today_. She's taken over Harvest Farm, and I have no intention of breaking up with Karen."

"The farm?" Manna asked in sudden interest, stepping right up close to Jill. "My goodness, I'm not sure I approve of _that_. A young lady, working by herself on a farm, hmm?"

"You're contradicting yourself, Manna," Rick mumbled.

"People won't be happy, won't be happy at all. What you need is a husband. If you ask me, it's plain wrong for a girl to be twenty and unmarried."

"Mary is twenty," Anna said bitterly from the back of the room. Manna turned back with a false smile.

"Well of _course _I don't mean Mary. She's quite capable without a husband." If possible, Anna looked even more offended. "But anyway, Jill, any boys caught your eye yet?" she gasped. "Oh, what about Rick?"

"Right," Rick growled, grabbing Jill's wrist and marching her out the door. "Goodbye!" he called forcefully, leaving Manna looking crestfallen behind them.

"I'm only nineteen," Jill pouted as they left the house. Rick shook his head.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that on your first day. Manna, Anna and Sasha are... terrible on their own. But together..." he shuddered. "This'll get back to Karen, you know, and then I'll be in big trouble."

"Is she pretty? Your girlfriend?"

Rick blushed. "Yeah, she is. Here's the library."

"Wow, that was fast. I just... walk in? You keep pushing doors open without knocking, and I keep expecting someone to yell at us."

Rick shrugged. "Everyone does it. The city must be weird. What do you have to do, knock all the time? What about at your own house?"

Jill frowned at him, then chose to ignore his question and stepped into the library. It was fairly small, and very cute and cozy. A librarian with large glasses and a long, dark braid looked up from her desk, and a young man reading in one corner glanced up in disinterest, before doing a double-take. Jill gave a small exclamation of surprise.

"Gray, right? Hi!" she called. He simply nodded to her. The librarian raised her eyebrows in surprise, her eyes widening slightly behind her thick glasses.

"Who's this?" she asked quietly. Jill walked over to her.

"You must be Mary. My name's Jill, I'm the new owner of Harvest Farm!" she finished this statement with a big grin. Mary looked her up and down.

"Nice to meet you," she replied quickly. Jill blinked, a little confused, before walking over to Gray.

"Why are you here?" she asked, genuinely curious. He shrugged, blushing slightly.

"I g-guess I like reading," he said in an almost whisper.

"Oh." She glanced around and smiled at Mary, who was watching her closely. "So... maybe I should borrow a book?"

"I suppose... that _is _why most people come to libraries."

"Do you have... anything that might help with farming, then?"

Still not giving off the most friendly vibes, the librarian wordlessly pulled a whole stack of books from the shelf and set them down heavily on the table in front of Jill. The blonde's eyes widened.

"O-oh, I can't read all of those –"

"Some of them have pictures." Mary turned away, and sat down at her desk again. Jill didn't catch anything offensive in the sentence, but Gray apparently did, shooting Mary a warning glare.

"Jill, we'd better keep going," Rick called. She nodded, then hurriedly selected two of the books and held them out to Mary, who stamped the front page of both and handed them back.

"Thank you very much. It was great meeting you," Jill grinned.

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Yes, it was... nice. Take care."

**xxx**

Rick was laughing heartily as they passed the supermarket. "Jill! It's ridiculous!" Jill smiled and shrugged.

"I... don't get what's so funny about a hair straightening iron. Haven't you ever heard of one before?" she asked.

"Of course I haven't... a...an _iron_ for your _hair_! Why on earth –"

"Rick!" Jill and Rick both jumped about a foot in the air at the sound of his name being yelled. They both turned to look at a beautiful girl with long, dark blonde hair and flashing green eyes, standing in the supermarket's doorway.

"K-Karen!" Rick stuttered. "What's wrong?"

Karen flipped her hair over one shoulder and gave him the evil eye. "I, Rick, was just helping out in the supermarket like normal. And the next thing I know, my _mother_ –" she walked forward threateningly and jabbed him in the chest with a finger, "Runs in, and says that she's been talking to Anna and Manna at Rose Square."

"Oh Goddess," Rick mumbled, running one hand down his face.

"She tells me that you have a new, pretty little blonde thing –" she pointed to Jill, "And that you're going to _break up _with me for her at any moment."

"Maybe I should go...?" Jill asked hesitantly. Karen laughed bitterly and shot her a warning glare.

"You're not getting _my_ man without a fight. That's it, I'll fight you for him! Then we'll see who he chooses!"

"Karen," Rick sighed, grabbing her hands which were raised and balled into fists. "Calm down. Now tell me once more, _who _told your mother that I'm going to break up with you?"

She hesitated, before looking at the ground, ashamed. "Manna and Anna."

"And we've talked about this. Everything that comes out of their mouths is...?"

"Pure garbage," she admitted. "But who's she, then?"

"I'm Jill," the blonde said quickly. "I barely know Rick, honestly. I met him today. I'm living on the farm."

"The farm? You?"

"Yeah..." Jill said slowly.

"Please," Karen scoffed, obviously still not warming up to Jill. "You won't last five minutes."

"Excuse me?" Jill asked incredulously, standing up a little bit straighter. "How dare you –"

"How dare _I_? Need I remind you, I walk out here and I'm immediately confronted with you flirting with my boyfriend –"

"I'm not standing around and listening to this from a complete stranger," Jill said as she held both hands up. "Thanks for helping me today, Rick. But I'm fine on my own from now on ." She stormed off, leaving Karen and Rick still bickering behind her.

**xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**xxx**

Karen burst through the door of the inn, and without pausing to nod a hello to Doug, or any of the customers, she ran upstairs to the room that Ann was usually cleaning.

"Ann! Ann, hey! I need to ask you something important."

"What?" Ann asked distractedly, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she tried to dust above the curtain rod.

"Could we invite all the girls here for a slumber party tonight? Please? It's really, really urgent that we all talk. Please, Ann!"

Ann looked a little dazed by this outburst, but nodded. "It should be fine, I think. Just let me go ask my dad." Karen sat down on the bed, and by the time Ann came back, was nervously pacing the room.

"Well?" Karen asked anxiously.

"Yep. It's fine with Dad – he says that we can have this room. So it's... you, me, Popuri, Mary, Elli... and Jane. Or was it Jenny? No...Jill. Did you want to invite that new girl, Jill?"

"No," Karen retorted immediately. Ann looked taken-aback by her adamant refusal. "No, because she's the reason we all need to talk." Ann rolled her eyes at the 'conspiracy' as Karen smiled mysteriously. "And now," Karen continued, "I need to tell the rest of the girls. Good day!"

**xxx**

Jill lay on her bed wearily, stroking her new puppy and pondering the day's events.

After leaving Rick and Karen, she had run into an old, friendly man named Barley and his adorable granddaughter May, who had asked her to come back to their farm.

Blatantly ignoring everything her mother had told her about going places with strangers, she obliged them, and when she reached Yodel Farm, was surprised with the gift of a puppy! She promptly christened it Molly, then thanked Barley, said goodbye to May, and headed home.

So, now, she was thinking about her meetings with the town people. Karen apparently had some major jealousy issues, and Mary was... well, she wasn't really sure how to describe Mary. Polite, but almost... sarcastic? Almost as if Jill was causing her constant annoyance, or they were old acquaintances who acted friendly but honestly couldn't stand each-other. Whatever the librarian's problem was, it was weird.

Now that she thought about it, none of the girls her age had seemed to approve of her at all. She had, of course, had a most unpleasant, and frankly, scary meeting with Popuri. Ann hadn't done anything wrong, but there was a sort of coldness, or distraction as she spoke to her. And finally, Rick had mentioned an Elli, who Jill hadn't met. Hopefully she would provide some pleasant companionship – goodness knows she needed it.

She'd always had trouble making friends with girls. Not that she was constantly in conflict with them or anything; it was more like all her closest friends had been boys.

She'd never had many friends at all, actually. Two close guy friends; one was her brother. Almost kind of sad.

But Goddess, she'd wanted that to change when she came here. She'd always thought that maybe it was the way it was because she'd gone through most of her schooling with just two close friends, and that was how people had always seen her. But maybe... it had been _her _personality all along.

"Maybe I'm just not meant to have friends," Jill sighed. She was so sick of romance, and friendship... was all she really wanted, now. Oh well. "I miss Jack," she mumbled, her brother's cheeky smile flashing into her mind for a split second. She'd felt so alone in the city, but it was now, now that Jack wasn't here beside her, that she realised just how much she'd had.

**xxx**

The five girls sat in a peculiar circle in the spare room at the inn, though all at different levels. Elli and Popuri were sitting on one of the beds with their backs against the wall, Mary was sitting in a wooden chair, her back ruler straight, Karen lounged on the floor, and Ann – deciding to be the normal one – was standing on the table, dusting the ceiling. They had been making small talk for awhile, and Karen took it into her own hands to finally bring up the subject of Jill.

"You girls won't believe it when I tell you what happened this morning," Karen told them, her voice sounding like she was almost singing.

"What?" Popuri and Elli asked, interested. Ann simply kept whistling as she dusted the ceiling, and Mary sat there silently, her arms crossed over her chest.

"So I was in the supermarket, restacking the flour. We'd actually run out of flour because some of the mothers were in a real cooking frenzy, and they –"

"Karen, it's when you go into minor detail like this that people stop listening," Ann called from her position on the table. Karen shot her a scowl, then continued.

"After about half past two, Mom races in the supermarket door and pulls me into the back room all in this... like, one flowy motion, and she has tears in her eyes and tells me that she has really bad news for me."

"Oh no!" Popuri gasped, clapping one hand over her mouth. Karen gave her an approving smile, then turned to stick out her tongue at the table-climbing red head.

"Obviously, Ann, you just don't know where to find your audiences."

"Obviously, Karen, you just don't know how to..." she trailed off, without a comeback. "Well, shut up."

"_Anyway_," Karen articulated through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at Ann, "She told me that Anna and Manna said they were just walking around the town, and they caught Rick kissing some blonde girl. Then they said that she'd met him through Joanna, Barley's daughter who left a couple of years ago? Because Joanna and Jill were best friends in the city, and they had gone through almost all the boys over there between them, so Joanna gave Jill a bunch of addresses for the boys over here, and she started up a correspondence with Rick, and they fell in love."

"Goddess," Popuri wailed dramatically. "My own brother! How did I not notice?"

Karen blushed and glanced at the ground. "Of course, after a conversation with Rick all of that proved to be totally and completely false, but it just goes to show what kind of person this Jill is. Doesn't it?" Ann snorted.

"Yeah, a poor girl unfortunate enough to catch Manna's eye."

"She came into the library today," Mary said softly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Was she awful?" Karen asked sympathetically. "You know, she had the cheek to tell me off after I caught her and Rick talking –"

"Karen, Mary was talking!" Ann roared, making the girl promptly close her mouth.

"There's not much to tell," Mary said. "I can't say I liked the look of her. She said something about not being able to read properly. And she seemed much too friendly towards both Rick and Gray, considering she's only met them today."

"Maybe she's not shy around boys," Ann shrugged.

"Would you stop defending her, Ann?" Karen scolded.

"But it's not fair," she said defiantly. "The girl's been here for a day and she's already got all of you on her back."

"I haven't done anything," Elli said, her eyes widening. "And now I feel terrible for her. Imagine having everyone – "

"Elli! Stop being brainwashed!" Karen instructed.

"But... on the other hand," Elli continued, "It _does _sound as if you girls have something quite serious to worry about."

"That's exactly right. It's okay for you; you're in a steady relationship. And I kind of am, too, but... the doctor is a lot more reliable than Rick, if you ask me. I think I'm right to be worried."

"Guys?" Popuri spoke up hopefully. Karen ignored her.

"And there's Popuri with Kai – goodness knows how Jill will react to _him_... and Mary, you said there was chemistry between her and Gray?"

"Not chemistry," Mary argued immediately. "They just... seemed..."

"Guys?"

"Not now, Popuri!" Karen snapped.

"But I think Gray and Cliff are talking about Jill –"

"WHAT?" Karen exploded. "And you waited until _now _to tell us? Stupid girl!" She scrambled across the floor and pressed her ear up against the wall urgently.

"Glasses!" Ann whispered, gesturing to a tray with a pitcher of lemonade and five glasses on it. Each girl hurriedly took one to press to the wall, then strained to listen to the muffled conversation.

"I haven't met her. I haven't even seen her," Cliff was saying quietly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Is she... you know, uh... pretty?"

"She's..." Gray's voice hesitated. "She's beautiful, yeah."

"Even more beautiful than... well..." he trailed off, and the girls could almost hear him blushing.

"By far. In... my opinion."

"Who did he say?" Karen mouthed urgently to the other girls. "Who did Cliff _say_? More beautiful than _who_?"

"Goddess, Karen, this really can't be good for your blood pressure," Ann said in a worried voice. She walked over and placed her glass back on the table. "I, for one, am not listening to any more."

"You're mad," Popuri said. The others nodded in agreement, straining to listen even harder. Ann hesitated, before grabbing the glass and running to the wall again.

"I don't want to be the only one missing out," she explained in a hiss.

"– I guess she seems nice," Gray's voice was continuing, "But I haven't talked to her all that much. I... don't really want to say much more until I know her."

Mary slowly put her glass down and turned, leaning her back up against the wall. Her face was ghost-white, and the rest of the girls glanced at each-other in alarm before gathering around her.

"Don't," she warned them. "I don't want to talk. What am I saying? There's nothing to talk about."

"He's probably not going to leave you, Mary," Popuri said cheerfully. Her statement only made the librarian look worse. "I mean, worst thing that could happen, he'll fall in love with her and they'll get married and go back to the city and have _adorable _babies and –"

Ann promptly clapped a hand over Popuri's mouth and dragged her to the other side of the room.

"Gray and I... aren't even really together," Mary whispered, playing with her braid.

"But you love him," Elli pressed gently, "And that should be enough."

"I have to go," the librarian said adamantly, rising to her feet. "Bye."

"I'd better get going, too," Elli said after a few moments. "Tim probably needs me. But this was fun! We should gossip about evil blonde farmers more often." She hurried out, calling for Mary to wait up.

"Well, that's just it," Karen announced. "That's the final straw." The remaining girls slowly turned towards her, and Popuri licked Ann's hand to make her let go. "I can deal with watching Rick... ogle her, a little. And fine, if she wants to flirt with the unattatched, older men. Like your dad, Ann." The waitress's eyes bugged out in disgust.

"Ka-ren," she groaned, gagging.

"But I will not stand idly by and watch her break the heart of one – or who knows, _all_, of you. I," she climbed up onto Ann's table and slammed her fist into her hand passionately. "I am not going to let that happen!" Ann placed her hand over her heart and began singing the national anthem, earning her scowls from every direction.

"What will we do, Karen?" Popuri called, like she was reading from a script. Karen's eyes narrowed, and her mouth set into a grim line.

"There's only one thing we can do," she muttered. "Get rid of her for good."

"Aaaand... Karen has officially gone mad," Ann said. "You're now contemplating murder. Congratulations!"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "We need to make living here so impossible... that she can't possibly stay another day. I say we unlock her biggest fears, and... torment her until she cracks!" she delved into hysterical cackles,and the other two shot each-other nervous glances.

"She's scared of chickens," Popuri suggested quietly. Karen stopped laughing and looked at her disbelievingly, before her face contorted into a devilishly evil grin.

**xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**xxx**

Jill fell out of her bed in fright upon hearing the same sound that had awoken her the morning before. What in the name of the Harvest Goddess _was _that? It sounded like some sort of chicken, but she sure as hell hadn't ever heard a chicken that sounded like that before.

When she had recovered, she made a vow to ask Rick what it was when – and if – she saw him today. Looking at her watch, the time was, once again, 6am. She grumbled resentfully, disentangling herself from her blankets.

Jill tried her hardest to stand up, but collapsed right back onto the floor, her legs about as hard as jelly after her walk yesterday. It was a good ten minutes later when she heard the knock at the door, and frankly, she wasn't going anywhere.

"Coming," she called desperately, even though she really... really wasn't. Trying one last time, she managed to push herself upright and hobble over to the door, tripping over her own feet several times in the process.

Her immediate reaction when she opened the door was to shield her eyes. Before her stood a tall man, with a long black plait and a yellow coat as bright as the sun – which wasn't the most pleasant thing to be focussing on while the actual sun was reflecting straight off it.

"Good morning." He bowed sharply. "My name is Won. I am a travelling salesman. And you are beautiful lady, yes?"

"Uh –" What was she supposed to say to that, exactly? _Why yes, yes I am?_

"I'm sure you must agree that what every beautiful lady needs is a beautiful vase, to keep all the beautiful bunches of flowers that she is sure to receive from her many admirers!"

"Well," Jill said nervously, rubbing the back of her head as she blushed. "I'm not sure that I'll be getting quite so many 'admirers', as you describe... you're quite the charmer, yourself, though..."

He ignored her. "Now this is a very, very rare vase. Almost priceless, in fact."

"Oh... I'm afraid I'm short on cash at the moment," she said regretfully. He glared at her.

"But I can offer it to you for next to nothing!"

"Unless you literally mean next to nothing..." she said slowly, shaking a few miserable coins from her purse.

Without another word, Won turned on his heel and stalked off, most seriously affronted that she would dare suggest such a ridiculous price. Jill stared after him, a frown creasing her forehead.

What was she going to do about her money situation? It was getting worse – she now apparently had almost-total-strangers storming off on her due to it.

Which probably meant that she needed to start... farming. She shuddered at the thought. She didn't like to think of herself as a princess, but the idea of touching all that dirt and all those bugs, and... and... she shrugged her shoulders a few times to release the creepy feeling it gave her. She needed help, desperately.

**xxx**

"Rick?" Jill called loudly as she walked through the gate of the Poultry Farm. "Rick?" Popuri stormed out of the house and glared at her.

"He isn't _here_, chicken hater. He's at the _supermarket_. With his _girlfriend_." Jill blinked at her, confused.

"Okay... I, uh... thank you, I guess."

"Don't thank me!" Popuri burst out. "I wasn't trying to be nice!"

"B-but... you still told me where he was," Jill pointed out nervously. "Which was nice of you."

Popuri gave her a slight frown, before nodding. "Yeah... yeah, I guess that was kind of nice of me. Hmm..." she drifted off to the other side of the farm, and Jill hurriedly ran off in the other direction.

She saw Rick and Karen sitting on a bench outside the supermarket, obviously having some sort of mild disagreement. Karen caught sight of Jill and rolled her eyes, saying something to Rick along the lines of 'I told you so' as he turned around to smile at the blonde.

"Hey, Jill."

"Hi Rick. Hi Karen." Karen crossed her arms over her chest and slumped on the seat.

"I need your help, Rick," Jill said quietly, shooting a half-scared glance at the slowly angering Karen. "I need some advice for the farm –"

"Oh, sure," the brunette mumbled under her breath. Rick swivelled immediately to give her a warning glare, and she shrugged. "I said sure. That means I believe her."

"If it's too much trouble..."

"It's no trouble," Rick insisted as he got to his feet. Karen apparently had different ideas, but she kept her mouth shut. Whatever Rick had said to her had certainly done the trick.

"Thank you – I didn't know who else to ask."

"Let me think... anyone?" Karen muttered. Rick shot her a glare yet again, and she sighed heavily.

"Karen!" a man's voice called from inside the supermarket. "Your shift started about ten minutes ago, honey." She pouted.

"Fine. See you, Rick." she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and turned to walk into the supermarket.

"Ahem," Rick coughed loudly. Karen winced, then turned and mechanically lifted a hand to Jill.

"Goodbye, Jill."

"Bye, Karen," Jill called sweetly. For a slight second, a ghost of a smile flitted across Karen's face. But then it was gone, and without a word she stormed through the door.

On the way back to the Poultry Farm, Jill awkwardly explained her predicament, and begged Rick for his help in overcoming her 'chicken phobia', as she described it.

When tears of laughter had stopped rolling down his cheeks for the most part, he explained that it was an extremely strange thing for a _farmer_ to be asking, of all people, but that of course he would help her.

"Come on," he instructed, leading her into the largest chicken coop at the Poultry Farm. Jill froze up in the midst of chickens pecking at grains around their feet, before she started freaking out.

"They're everywhere, Rick. They're everywhere." She gave a cry of anguish as a particularly brave chicken pecked at the toe of her shoe – the final straw – and bolted out of the coop as fast as her legs would take her. Rick sighed and massaged his temples, before following her outside with a scowl on his face.

It took an hour, but he finally coaxed her into dealing with just one of them. He went into the coop and brought out the most gentle chicken in there, then stood opposite Jill outside.

"Jill, this is Mavro. Mavro, this is Jill. Say hello, Jill."

"I'm not talking to a chicken. I draw the line at complete madness."

"Okay," Rick shrugged, turning and walking back towards the coop. "Fine. Fail as a farmer. Keep your chicken phobia for the rest of your life."

"It's _so _nice to meet you, Mavro," Jill called, racing after Rick and curtseying to the bird.

**xxx**

It took awhile, but she finally managed to hold the chicken. She cringed, and had her eyes closed the whole time, but she still held it – a huge achievement for her.

"Here," Rick said gently, walking over to Jill with his hands closed around something. He opened them to reveal a tiny, yellow, chirping ball of fluff.

"Oh..." Jill cooed, holding her hands out and snuggling it close. "This one isn't scary at all!"

"It's yours," he laughed. She stopped on the spot and looked at him disbelievingly.

"Are you sure? It's so... tiny, though. What if I can't look after it and the poor little thing gets sick and it's all my fault?"

"You need to breathe more. Inhale... exhale..."

"You'll help me take care of him... or her... won't you?"

"It's a her. And of course I will. It's not that hard though, Jill – you'll do fine."

"I'll name her... Chicky," Jill said proudly. Rick raised an eyebrow at her.

"Chicky the chicken?"

A few minutes later, Jill started on the topic of Karen. "She's beautiful," Jill said. "And the other girls seem to really like her. But Goddess, she seems to really hate me." Rick immediately shook his head.

"It's not... that she hates you. She's..." he shrugged. "Protective. Of me, of my sister – of all her friends."

"Well I'm not exactly trying to come in and ruin their lives –"

"But you're upsetting the balance, in a town like this. The way everyone's always known it. Trust me, Jill, if you were a guy... they'd love you."

"So they're... jealous? Of me? Please."

"They'll get used to you. You need to give it time. Don't be so impatient."

"But I want some friends _now_," she pouted, only half-joking. Rick frowned at her.

"I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Of course you are. But are you a girl? If you really want me to talk about girl stuff with you, I'll –"

"Maybe I'll help Karen come to accept you a little faster," he said hurriedly.

**xxx**

Gray was turning into Rose Square that afternoon, heading back to the inn after work. It was a Monday, so he hadn't gone to the library. Recently, the books didn't seem to interest him that much anyway.

"Gray!" a female voice called from behind him. He turned on his heel and gave a half-smile as he recognized the blonde running towards him. "Sorry, I – where are you going?" she panted.

"Inn," he replied shortly.

"Oh, good. Can I walk with you?" he shrugged, and she hurried to keep up with his long strides.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice coming out rougher than intended.

"I'm... not sure," Jill admitted. "I think I'm going to look for somewhere that I haven't been, yet. But that's the hardest thing to look for, isn't it? If you don't know where, or what it is?" her statement drew a low chuckle out of the blacksmith, who pointed straight ahead.

"Have you been to the church?"

"No," she replied, curious. "You have a church? In a place as small as this?"

Gray shrugged. "Some people think that the church is the most important place here. But... I don't know."

"No, I think they're right. I love churches. They're so... peaceful. Quiet. I can actually hear myself think – which I guess sometimes isn't so much a good thing. Oh – you're turning down that road?"

"Yeah," he nodded, walking away. He turned to face her. "You're okay by yourself?"

"I'm fine," she nodded, waving to him. "It's a straight line to the church. Even I can't mess it up too badly." She watched for a few moments as Gray walked away, then walked up to the church and pushed open the heavy doors.

The priest looked up upon Jill's entrance, and smiled. "Jill?" he asked. She nodded shyly.

"Yes... how did you...?"

"The Harvest Goddess sent me a vision of your arrival," he said seriously. Jill's eyes widened, before he started to laugh. "I'm kidding. Mayor Thomas told me. My name is Carter."

"Oh."

"So, where are you from, Jill?"

"The city."

"So you've never farmed before?" she shook her head adamantly, and he smiled again. "I will ask the Harvest Goddess to help you."

"Um... th-thank you. I kind of need all the help She can give." The priest started laughing once more, and Jill smiled. She'd never thought of herself as particularly funny. But this sure was good for her self-esteem.

"Jill," Carter said, switching back to his serious voice. "Can I... ask you a favour?"

She frowned. What kind of favour? What if she couldn't do it? Were you allowed refuse something a priest asked you to do? "I... think so..."

"There is a young man over there," he said, nodding towards the pews. Jill started to turn, then realised that could look slightly suspicious, and kept looking at Carter as he continued. "He's quite new to town, like you, and... well, he's very shy. Would you mind – just – talking to him, a little bit?"

"Oh. Yeah, no problem." She turned, and raised an eyebrow when she finally got a look at the guy in question. "No problem at all." She walked over, making him look up quickly, almost afraid. "Hi," she said cheerfully, holding out a hand. "I'm Jill."

"C-Cliff," he replied instantly, taking her hand for a second before dropping it and looking away.

"I..." she began, with a little difficulty. "I've, uh... bought the... farm?"

"I know," he said softly. "I – my roommate was t-telling me."

"Who's your roommate?" she asked, glad that he was at least giving her some conversation openers.

"Uh... G-Gray..."

"Oh, cool. Do you two get along?"

"I guess so..."

"Hmm." She shot a desperate look back at Carter, who was nodding encouragingly. "Well, I should... go... there's a lot of work to do on a farm, you know! Heh..."

"Okay..."

"Right. Um. Well, bye, Cliff. I'll see you around. Bye Carter!" she waved to the priest cheerfully, then walked quickly out of the door and away from that particular awkward moment.

**xxx**

"Karen, _what _are you doing?" Ann groaned, seeing the brunette creep through the main part of the inn.

"I need a glass." The waitress frowned at her, and Karen blushed. "Last time, I promise. I just want to hear any suspicious conversation. I'm looking out for you and Mary, okay?"

"How is listening to Cliff and Gray looking out for me?" Ann asked, blushing. Karen raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, okay, Ann. Let's avoid the obvious a little more, shall we?" the red-head opened her mouth to argue, changed her mind, grabbed two glasses and bolted up the stairs with Karen.

Pressing the glasses to the wall, Karen shushed Ann even though the waitress wasn't saying a word.

"- haven't been there for awhile," Gray's voice was saying.

"Yeah, it's more of a summer place, I guess. There... aren't any festivals there for any other seasons."

"They're talking about the beach," Ann groaned in boredom, letting herself sink to the ground. "Boring."

"Be patient, Ann!" Karen listened eagerly for almost half an hour, to silence, mostly, with the occasional remark from either boy. Just as she was about to give up, however, her patience was rewarded.

"I, uh," Cliff began, walking over and sitting on his bed. "Saw Jill, today."

"Really," Gray asked, attempting disinterest.

"Yup."

"Okay."

"... You were right. About her... being pretty, I mean."

"I know."

"She came up and talked to me in the church."

Gray blinked. "Oh."

"She's very nice."

The blacksmith grunted, an uncomfortable and strange feeling growing in his stomach.

"Karen," Ann whispered. "Have you heard anything yet?"

"Yeah," she whispered back. "Boy, have we got something to worry about."

**xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**xxx**

It had been awhile since Jill first came to Mineral Town. She had seen almost everywhere there was to see, including the beach, hot springs and the breathtaking view from the top of Mother's Hill. The latter had become a favourite haunt of hers – she went up there every day when she had a spare moment.

It hadn't been all easy, though. She'd certainly seen her share of tough times already.

Her first attempt at growing crops had failed miserably. She had gone to the supermarket and asked Karen for help, in a bid for friendship, and been told in the most certain terms that potatoes were her best bet; as they "didn't need watering."

She was admitted to the clinic after Mary had suggested she eat some red grass for recuperation of stamina. Afterwards, she'd half-apologized and said that she must have got her grasses mixed up, though she'd had a disinterested expression on her face the entire time.

Finally, and strangest of all, when she'd gone into her house to grab a watering can from the toolbox, a vicious chicken had come – from INSIDE the house – and attacked her! Luckily, Popuri was inexplicably hiding around the side of her house, and after a few minutes, helped her fend off the crazy chicken.

So, Jill had most definitely fought her share of battles. She'd also finally met Elli and the extremely handsome Doctor Tim – who, unfortunately, had to see her covered in a bright pink rash the first time they met – courtesy of her "incident" with the red grass.

Elli had seemed nice – she was actually very friendly at the start of Jill's visit – but as time went on, and Tim spent more and more time tending to his patient, Elli oddly seemed to grow much more hostile towards Jill. The nurse had also made a big mistake, giving Jill the wrong bottle of medicine when she went home. Luckily, Tim noticed before Jill could take any of the stuff, and Jill was left thinking that Mineral Town was home to many extremely clumsy girls.

She awoke on the last day of Spring, seconds before that obnoxious noise (Rick had, while laughing hysterically, told her that it was a rooster.) She was finally – _finally _– getting used to this town's early hours.

She made herself half-presentable and stepped outside, taking a really good look at her farm for the first time in awhile.

It was definitely improved since her arrival, and the first time she saw it. She had eventually been able to pull up the majority of the weeds, while Rick had helped her when it came to smashing up some of the smaller rocks and cutting up branches, but her major problem was that she just wasn't strong enough to tackle some of the huge boulders and tree stumps still dominating her field.

She had discovered the day before, when Zack had walked in to collect her shipment – and incidentally, found her nearly dead as she repeatedly swung her axe at a tree trunk, zombie-like – that there was more than one 'level' for tools, and you had to pay Saibara to get them upgraded. Which was just _fabulous_, considering all the spare money Jill had lying about.

But the truth was, she needed the upgrades, for her hammer and axe at least. Her axe, perhaps, needed it more urgently. So with a sigh, she grabbed the tool and headed towards the blacksmiths.

Instantly finding herself smack-bang in the middle of a heated argument.

"WHAT?" Gray roared aggressively, slamming his fist down on the workbench with a crash. "Tell me what the hell's wrong with it!"

"The answer is inside of you. You have much to learn," Saibara replied calmly.

"And how the _heck _am I supposed to learn if you won't tell me what I'm doing wrong, huh?"

"Gray!" Saibara scolded. "Control yourself. We have company."

Gray turned around angrily, his hat pulled down over his eyes. "What do you want? If you have nothing to –"

"GRAY! How dare you talk to a customer like that! A young lady, too, boy!"

"Whatever," he muttered, staring at the floor.

"You'll have to forgive him, Jill," the old man said with a rugged smile. Gray looked up, shocked, at the blonde. "When he loses his temper, he'd snap at just about anyone. What was your visit today for?"

"Nothing... important," she said softly, backing out the door. "I'll come back later."

Saibara turned to Gray as she rushed outside. "You've done it now."

"Done what," he muttered, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes again.

"If I were you, I'd go apologize straight away. You let something like that settle, and before you know it, you've got an unfixable relationship."

"Yeah? Well... what makes you think I want any sort of a relationship with her?"

"Because for the most part, you try to act civil around her, which is more than I can say when you're with anyone else."

"I always treat women with respect," he growled. "I'm going to go talk to her – but not because you told me to. Okay?"

**xxx**

He entered Harvest Farm, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked around for the blonde and finally saw her, sitting by the river on her property. She looked unusually pale, her chin resting on her knees as she watched the water.

Though he knew her miserable countenance wasn't entirely due to him, he still had a sick, guilty feeling in his stomach. It wasn't nice, yelling at her and then seeing her like that.

"Jill," he said quietly, making her jump. She gave him a nervous smile and quickly clamoured to her feet, dusting herself off.

"Sorry," she said quickly, leaving him speechless. "For intruding before. It wasn't my place."

"You didn't do anything," he replied incredulously. "I just... I should be the one apologizing."

"Oh. Well... it's okay."

"Are you?" he asked.

She looked at him, confused. "Am I what?"

"Okay. You look really... I don't know. Upset."

Jill gave him a wry smile. "I'm fine. I'm... tired, I guess." He shot her a sceptical look, and she sighed. "It's just... so different here, compared to where I came from, and... I guess I expected this whole experience to be better than it is." She looked out over the water again, and Gray awkwardly sat down beside her.

"I'm... not so good at talking," he admitted, "But I'm a good listener. If you – you know, ever need someone to just listen."

"I might need to hold you to that someday," she said with a smile. She shrugged her shoulders. "But hey, how about you? You don't seem too... happy."

He frowned and glanced at his hands. "I'm just... frustrated." He looked up, expecting Jill to press for more information, but she just nodded and kept her eyes on him. "My Grandfather... expects so much from me, and I can't do it all. Sometimes I don't even understand what he means, and it feels like I should just... quit."

Jill raised an eyebrow. "Gray, it's called training. You can't expect to be brilliant at something straight away, especially something as difficult as blacksmithing."

"But it's... stressful."

"Hey, I learnt ballet when I was younger, and I sucked to begin with. It took years, but soon enough..." she shrugged. "I wasn't all that bad."

Gray got to his feet and she stretched out a hand, gesturing for him to help her up. He did so, blushing slightly.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll... try harder."

"Good," she replied, giving him a bright smile. "Make me proud of you."

"What," he coughed, "Did you... uh... come in, for? Earlier?"

"Oh... nothing," she replied quietly. Gray frowned at her, and she hesitated. "I was just... going to see if maybe I could get my axe and hammer upgraded. It doesn't matter, I'll bring them in tomorrow. Or even better, when I can afford it," she finished with a laugh.

"Don't do that. I'll – I'll take them with me now. We'll do them for free, Jill. As an... apology."

"No way," she said adamantly. "I already accepted your apology. Besides, I didn't say that I was struggling financially to get... sympathy, or anything. Far from it. It's not going to happen, Gray," she warned as he tried to protest.

"Look," he stuttered, trying to be rational. "If you give them to me... you'll be doing me a favour. I could use the experience as... practice, for my blacksmithing, rather than using up Grandpa's material to make new tools. You'd actually be saving _us_ money."

The blonde hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well... thank you." She walked into her house and returned outside with a beaten axe and a battered hammer. Gray frowned.

"What did you do to them? They look like a tractor or something ran them over."

**xxx**

"Ann, she's going to steal Cliff. Why don't you stand up for yourself?" Karen scolded angrily. Ann shrugged.

"If he likes her and she likes him, who am I to say that they can't be together? Besides, I don't like Cliff."

"Yeah, sure. I'm not blind, girl. He walks in the door and _you_ practically have to take a sedative to stop yourself from jumping on him."

"I –"

"Stop being weak. Start fighting your own battles!"

"You seem to be doing a pretty thorough job of fighting them for me."

Karen scowled at her. "I'd lecture you more, but –" she checked her watch. "I was meant to be at the supermarket twenty minutes ago. You need to watch out for Jill. Ask Cliff on a date, that'll do it."

"Karen!" Ann wailed, her face bright red at the prospect. The brunette simply waved over her shoulder as she walked out of the inn.

With a sigh, the waitress walked over to the counter and started wiping it down with a dish-cloth. She didn't turn around when she heard the door open, but paused in her tracks when her dad said, in a cheerful voice,

"Good afternoon, Jill. You've finally decided to pay a visit."

"What'll it be?" Ann asked, flipping a notebook open, her pencil poised over it. Jill blushed heavily.

"I – I'm sorry, I don't... I don't mean this to sound offensive in any way, but – I can't afford to eat here. I'm broke."

Ann frowned, examining the skinny girl. She looked like she really needed a decent meal. "Dad?" she asked, blinking up at him innocently. Doug, understanding his daughter's motive, nodded.

"Our treat then, Jill. You can help us out and tell us what you think of the food."

"Oh no," Jill replied in horror. "No. I'm not accepting any more charity today. I'm not even hungry." Her stomach gave a very loud, convenient growl, and Ann walked over to take her arm.

"Sit," she ordered, military-style, pushing her down into a chair. "Dad's going to cook you the best meal you ever ate. Meanwhile, I'm going to sit down with you and do nothing but talk." Her father glared at her, and she winced. "Consider it my break, Daddy."

"You've taken nine already, and we've been open for three hours."

"Yes, but... I love you." She stared at him through pleading blue eyes, and he stormed off into the kitchen.

"How do you get them to just obey you?" Jill asked with a smile. "I've had years of practice, but I've never mastered it."

Ann shrugged. "I guess I've just got a natural talent for... manipulating." She frowned, realising that it wasn't really a good thing. "So," she continued quickly, "What brings you to Mineral Town?"

Jill stared at the red-head nervously. "I just wanted a... change of pace." She received a questioning glance, but thank goodness, wasn't pressed any further. "Would you be able to tell me some things about... here?"

"Yeah, sure," the waitress said instantly. "Like what?"

"Anything, I guess." Ann launched into an explanation of various festivals, while Jill listened and nodded politely. Gosh, it was complicated. Romantic festivals, family festivals, animal festivals, beach festivals...

"– and Kai," Ann was saying, "Comes every Summer. He's..." she hesitated. "Nice... kind of. He's fun. And, you know..." she sighed. "A really, really big flirt. I think you'll need to watch out for him, especially. You're his type."

"His type?" Jill laughed. "Come on, nobody's that bad. Anyway, I've had plenty of exposure to flirts living in the city. I can handle anything this guy throws at me."

Still looking sceptical, Ann glanced up and saw her father struggling with plates. She raced over to help him, then set them down before Jill who looked wide-eyed and stunned.

"I can't eat all that."

"Oh, you might think so – but you can. Dad's cooking is amazing."

Sure enough, it took Jill about two minutes flat to scarf down the meal. "Goddess... I've never eaten like that in my life," she groaned, pressing her hands to her stomach.

"It's great, seeing a little blonde thing like you shovel it in. A working girl needs to eat a lot, you know," Doug laughed.

"Thank you so much," she exhaled. "That was wonderful. As soon as I have the money, I'll definitely be coming back."

"Come back just to talk, whenever you want," Doug said. "I can tell Ann here would like it."

"Yeah, of course," Ann smiled. "Listen... the girls are coming back here after Beach Day and spending the night. Did you want to come, too?"

"I'd love to," the farmer replied with a grateful smile. "I should probably get back to the farm, now – but thank you again. Bye!" she gave a cheerful wave as she walked out, and Ann kept a false smile plastered on her face until the door had closed.

Karen was _not _going to be happy.

**xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**xxx**

"Ann," Karen said calmly, through gritted teeth. "You did... _what_, exactly?" Ann winced.

"I... invited Jill to... stay over tomorrow night," she admitted nervously. Karen sighed loudly and turned away from her.

"And, Ann, why did you do that?"

"Because... well, I was thinking that maybe we should try getting to know her better. She's not that bad – I had a talk with her, and she's actually kind of nice. I mean –" she was cut off by an indignant noise from Karen.

"Not another word. Listen to me. Of _course _she's going to be acting sweet and innocent for a few weeks. She's a ticking time-bomb, Ann." She shook her head sadly. "If we let our guard down now, who knows the extent of the potential damage she could cause? And you know who the blame will rest with, don't you?"

"Me...?" she guessed slowly. Karen nodded grimly, and Ann exhaled.

"But I'm a forgiving person, Ann," she said as she paced the room. "And I'm going to forgive you for this little inconvenience. All we need to do is make the best of a bad situation, right?"

"But I don't really see that it's _such _a bad situation, Kar –"

"Of course you don't. You're won over far too easily. But I – I've seen more of the world than you have, Ann."

"You have not," the red-head scoffed. "You've never been out of Mineral Town."

Karen shot her a glare. "You know, it was pretty stupid of you to invite Jill tonight."

"I thought you forgave me!"

"Oh, Annie. You think a lot of things. That doesn't mean all... or any... of them are right." Ann opened her mouth to protest, but Karen cut her off. "Nevertheless, I have a plan. A plan so daring, so ingenious, that only I could think it up."

"What is it?"

Karen hesitated. "I... haven't... thought of it yet." She trailed off, rubbing her hands together. "Yet..."

Ann sighed. It was going to be a long day.

**xxx**

Jill woke up late on the first day of Summer, squinting through the harsh sunlight that was conveniently streaming through the windows and into her eyes. She shot a vague look at her watch, yawned, did a double-take and leapt hurriedly out of bed. Ten-thirty? That beach festival thing _started _at ten!

She hurriedly combed the tangles through her hair, got dressed, and made a general attempt at looking slightly presentable. Whether or not her attempt had worked was a totally different story, but it was the best she could do. She raced out the front door and ran all the way to the beach.

When she finally got there, the festival was already well underway. People stood about talking and laughing, the air was a delicious mixture of popcorn and the ocean, and most surprisingly, _Karen_ was waving to her frantically from across the beach.

"Jill!" Karen called, racing over and stepping on a few unfortunate sunbakers. "Hey!"

"Hi..." the blonde replied suspiciously. Karen took her hand and pulled her over to where Ann, Mary, Gray, Cliff, and a defiant-looking Rick were standing.

"Jill's finally here," Karen said cheerfully, gesturing to her. Rick shot Karen a half-confused, half-approving look, as did Ann.

"Karen?" Ann asked, her approval suddenly changing to suspicion. "Can I talk to you?"

The brunette glanced to the side, looking guilty. "I guess..." the waitress pulled her away to the other side of the beach, and Rick followed them, his arms crossed.

"Hey," Jill said to Gray, Cliff and Mary. Gray nodded and grunted, not meeting her eye, Cliff raised one hand in a despondent sort of wave, and Mary kept staring determinedly out at the ocean, barely acknowledging Jill. _Walked right into party central with this lot, didn't I? _she thought, allowing herself a slight grimace.

She glanced away from the trio and scanned the beach, before her eye landed on something – or rather, some_one_ – interesting. A tanned, good-looking man, who was wearing a purple bandanna stood next to Popuri, who seemed... to be... drooling. Ew.

"Who's that?" she asked, directing the question to Cliff. It was Gray who spoke up.

"Kai," he replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I'd watch out for him if I were you."

"Someone's told me about him before," she muttered thoughtfully. Of course, _now_ she was intrigued. "I might go introduce myself." The blacksmith scowled, his face like a thunderstorm as he watched her walk away.

"Hey," she said softly, standing in front of Popuri and Kai. The pink-haired girl crossed her arms over her chest angrily, but the traveller's eyes lit up.

"Hel-_lo_ there," he said with a wink. "You weren't here last year. I'd remember that pretty face." Popuri looked like she was going to burst in an explosion of pink, and Jill hurriedly took a step away from her.

"I'm new. I arrived at the beginning of Spring." _A city boy, definitely, _she thought to herself. _Bet he wrote the book on cheesy lines._

"Kai? Do you wanna go watch the Frisbee Toss?" Popuri asked hopefully. Kai patted her soft hair a few times, before holding out a handful of coins.

"Be a sweetheart and go get a couple of sodas for you and I, huh? I don't know if you'll need that money, though. With someone as beautiful as you, they probably won't charge." A dreamy look came into the girl's eyes as she drifted off to the food stall on the other side of the beach. "So," he continued, his attention back to Jill. "Wow. I reckon heaven must be..."

"Missing an angel?" Jill cut in. "A little originality wouldn't go amiss. What's next, I've lost my number, can I have yours?"

Kai laughed and nodded to her appreciatively. "You're from the city, then. You can't blame me for trying."

Jill opened her mouth to reply, but felt someone tug on her arm hard. She let out a cry and turned to see... Rick? Glowering at Kai as if he were trying to set him on fire with his eyes.

"Don't even think about it," Rick warned him angrily. "She's not interested. She's better than that." Kai shrugged.

"Ah, young love. I've gotta say, you go for the pretty ones, Rick." He winked at Jill once more, made a rather rude hand gesture at a spluttering Rick, and moved over to Popuri, still waiting at the stall.

Jill looked back at Rick, her mouth hanging open in shock. "My goodness, did you want to _be_ any angrier?"

"I'm warning you, as a friend. Stay away from Kai," Rick begged. Jill shook her head in disbelief.

"So many people have said that to me. I can take care of myself, you know. Trust me, I..." she paused. "I know Kai's type. I've had a... bad experience, with someone who turned out to be like him. At least Kai's upfront about his intentions."

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked, staring at her in confusion. She sighed and shrugged.

"Can we just... go back to the others?"

"Yeah," he exhaled, leading her over.

"Jill!" Karen squealed, bounding over and squeezing the blonde's arm affectionately. "Where were you?"

"A-around?" she said, completely lost as to why Karen was treating her so nicely. Sure, she'd wanted friendship... but this was just the slightest bit over the top.

**xxx**

The sun was beginning to set, but Karen was just getting started. She eagerly gathered Jill, Ann, Popuri, Rick, Gray, Cliff and Kai over onto a blanket under one of the larger beach umbrellas.

"I've decided," she said happily, "That we're all going to take some time to really _bond_. So we can _grow_, as a _community_."

"How much have you been _drinking_," Ann said as she raised an eyebrow. Karen glared at her.

"I'm serious. I mean, how much do you all really know about Popuri? Can _any _of you tell me what her favourite colour is?"

"Pink," the whole group replied at the same time. Popuri smiled at them sweetly, and Karen growled under her breath.

"That was an easy one! My point is, you don't know how much we don't know about each-other... and we don't even know that we don't know it."

"I've never heard the words 'don't know' said in the same sentence so many times," Rick mumbled, looking slightly dazed.

"I think," Karen cut in, "That we should pick a person... and everyone in the group can ask them a question. The person we pick needs to be completely honest in their answers, though." Everyone around her shrugged, and she scowled at their lack of enthusiasm.

"So... who do we ask first?" Cliff asked quietly. Karen looked at Jill immediately, who blushed, before Ann came to her rescue.

"Karen, obviously. She came up with this, she's obviously willing to play along." Karen scowled, then flipped her hair back over her shoulders and shrugged.

"Whatever. Popuri, first question?"

Popuri's eyes widened, like she had stage fright. "I... uh... well, what's _your _favourite colour?"

"Green."

"Uh... how old are you?" Jill asked awkwardly. Taking care to frown at her, Karen replied.

"Twenty."

"Wanna go out with me?" Kai asked hopefully.

"No."

Ann sighed. "What's your favourite food?"

Karen rolled her eyes impatiently. "Whatever. You all know everything about me. Why don't we ask someone who we don't know much about? Like..."

"Me!" Ann called desperately, receiving strange looks from everyone. She looked hurt. "Hey, I'm a very deep and mysterious person. Who's first?"

"Is that your own hair colour?" Popuri asked. Ann blinked at her.

"Who the heck else's would it be?"

"Wanna go out with me?" Kai said with a wink. The waitress simply raised a 'gonna-hurt-you' eyebrow.

"How hard can you hit Kai?" Rick asked, watching in delight as she rammed her fist into the traveller next to her.

"What's your favourite book?" Mary asked quietly, joining in the game.

"Dad's... dessert... cookbook..." She trailed off, no doubt thinking of chocolate brownies and apple pies.

After a few minutes of Ann's daze, Karen shrugged and clapped her hands together. "Alright. Let's ask... Jill."

"Oh, I don't –" the blonde began, before Karen cut her off.

"What's your biggest fear?" she asked slyly. Jill hesitated.

"Probably... swans." Karen looked crestfallen.

"Something that would... surprise us about you," Mary said, catching on.

"I can play the flute," Jill said slowly.

"What did you wish for on your last birthday?" Popuri asked, tilting her head to the side. Karen glared at her for wasting a question, and Popuri glared back. "It's a good question," she whispered loudly, "Because if she tells us, it won't come true."

"I wished for this really nice dress I wanted. I never got it, though."

"See?" Popuri said to Karen triumphantly, crossing her arms.

"Wanna go out with me?" Kai asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. Jill bit her lip and shook her head.

"Not really."

"Who was your best friend, in the city?" Rick asked curiously.

"Jack," Jill said, without a moment of pausing.

"The best memory you have?" Gray asked quietly, reminding them all of his presence. Jill frowned thoughtfully, before her eyes brightened.

"My brother taking my sister and I to the park every Wednesday, when we were younger."

"Cliff?" Karen asked, staring at the shy vagabond. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "Haven't got a question? No problem. I've got another one."

"Karen," Ann warned, finally snapping out of her dessert daydream.

"What," she began, ignoring the red-head, "Was your initial thought when you met everyone sitting here right now?"

"I... can't answer that," Jill stuttered, glancing away.

"Don't be ridiculous," Karen said, putting on an awful fake laugh. "We're not going to judge you. I'm not asking what you think of us _now_, just... when you first met us."

"Uh... well... Popuri, I thought... liked chickens a lot."

"Oh my Goddess," the pink haired girl replied in total shock. "That is the _freakiest _thing ever. I LOVE chickens!"

"Ann... seemed... just... really nice. She was kind of busy when I first saw her, so I didn't have time to form an opinion... but the next time, I just... thought she was so sweet, and accommodating. It meant a lot to me. In a new town, and Ann just..." Jill choked as the waitress pounced on her, tears in her eyes.

"Any time, Jill! You're a wonderful girl, and I'm so glad we're friends, and –"

"ANN!" she hurriedly scrambled away from Jill at Karen's roar.

Jill glanced around, before continuing. "I thought Rick was fantastic, and I thought Cliff was shy –" he blushed heavily, proving her point. "I thought Karen was beautiful, Gray was cute, Mary was smart, Kai was... very friendly... that everyone?" The circle all glanced around at each-other and nodded slowly, except for Gray and Mary. He was staring directly at Jill, his forehead creased slightly.

Mary's gaze was simply travelling back and forth between the two, her face unusually pale.

**xxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**xxx**

It was a boiling hot Summer day, and a certain farmer was doing her best not to melt into a big puddle of Jill as she trudged up the path from the mines to her farm. Okay, so mining on a day like today wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. Frankly, she preferred mining to working on the farm – so that was what she did more of. Not that her mining could really qualify as 'mining' as such; it was more like she wandered around the top level, too scared to go any deeper, picking up the odd pretty-looking stone she found on the ground.

It had been while in the mines that she was suddenly struck with the urge to bring back some ores for Saibara and Gray. Too many times, she'd walked past the blacksmith's forge and winced as she heard Saibara sharply disciplining his grandson for being lazy, being careless, being alive... well, not exactly the last one – but that was the general impression she got. Maybe if she could bring the pair of them some materials to work with, Saibara wouldn't get so mad at Gray, and Gray wouldn't be so...

She didn't have a word to describe Gray. Sure, she could call him moody... quiet... angsty... but none of them seemed to really fit. He was just... Gray. A little mysterious, a little grouchy, a little sweet. Of course, it was the latter that she saw the least of... but there were glimpses, when he didn't realise he was showing it.

And without trailing off any further, that's how she came to be making her way to the blacksmith's shop with a rucksack full of gems. Or, basically useless junk ores - but it was the thought that counted.

"Hello?" she called carefully, squinting to see through the thick steam that she'd come to associate with the building.

"Jill," Saibara replied, his eyes and mouth crinkling into a smile. "Nice to see you. I'm sorry, but we're closed just now so I can't take any tools or anything... of course, if that bonehead grandson of mine messed up your axe or hammer, I'll drag him down here myself right now and have him fix them..."

"No!" Jill insisted quickly. "No, not at all... they're... perfect, honestly. So much easier to use. Gray's obviously very talented."

The old man raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well. I must say, I've never been fortunate enough to see it. But... I suppose he may have put in some extra effort on your tools." Jill frowned, but Saibara didn't give her time to dwell on his comment. "So what brings you here at this time, Miss?"

"Oh! I – I brought you these." She opened her rucksack and pulled out several ores, making Saibara's face light up in amusement.

"Thank you very much, young lady," he chuckled. "They'll be extremely... helpful. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," Jill replied immediately. She glanced over the man's shoulder and frowned slightly. "Where's Gray?"

Saibara's face grew thoughtful. "It's five, so the library's closed... of course, I don't know why he's still visiting that place now that – but anyway, I think your best bet would be his room at the inn."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. She immediately made her way to the inn and pushed open the heavy doors.

Ann was clearing tables on the other side of the room and waved cheerfully when she saw Jill. "I've just washed the floors upstairs, so take care that you don't slip, all right?"

"Please," the blonde scoffed in reply. "As if I would. I can tell when there's water on a floor and when there isn't."

"Bet you twenty bucks that you forget and slip."

"I'm not a betting woman, Ann," she scowled. "And I'm not a stupid one."

"Yeah, whatever," the waitress replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "Go on, do whatever you're here for. We're not liable if you injure yourself." Rolling her eyes and smiling, Jill sprinted up the stairs, carefully and deliberately walking across the floor to the room that Gray and Cliff shared.

"Come in," a male voice called after she knocked. Jill opened the door a little and stuck her head around the doorframe.

"Hi, Gray."

"Uh... hey," he replied, frowning slightly to see Jill there.

"Where's Cliff?"

He hesitated. "Probably at the church."

"Right." She glanced at her feet, feeling uncomfortable for some reason. "Cool."

"What do you need him for?"

"Oh – nothing! I'm not looking for Cliff. I'm looking for... uh, you. Here, I brought you these..." she turned to rummage through her bag and held out several ores one at a time.

"Oh," Gray said in disbelief. "You got these from the mines?"

"Of course," she laughed, tilting her head to the side curiously. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well... it's... not so much why wouldn't you, as it is why _would _you. We don't... talk much."

She shrugged. "You're a good guy. I just wanted to help you out, so... hopefully you can use them for something."

He was still looking at her as if she had four or five heads, but he managed to nod sharply. "Yeah, they'll... help. Thanks."

"No problem," she grinned, turning to leave.

"Jill?"

"Mmhm?"

"I've been meaning to... apologize," he said awkwardly, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

"For...?"

"The way I acted the other day. Yelling at you when you came into the blacksmith's."

"Gray. You apologized for that ages and ages ago – I'm not mad! I'd almost forgotten about it!"

"I know, but –"

"You were frustrated," she said simply. "You lashed out. There's no need to apologize to me for that – I know what it's like. You just act... impulsively, and... sometimes you regret it afterwards." She paused briefly, then shook her head. "I brought you those to encourage you in your work... so you don't give up. I don't know. Your work looks great to me now."

The blacksmith coughed slightly in an attempt to hide his blush. "I'm not. I have a long way to go before I can match my grandfather."

"Well, I obviously don't know much about blacksmithing," she laughed, checking her watch. Her face fell. "My Goddess... I didn't realise it was so late. I'm sorry, I really have to go –" she turned on her heel and prompty hit the ground as a solid form threw her off balance.

"Sorry, beautiful," the man said, his dark eyes twinkling as he extended a hand to help her up. "Watch yourself."

"Uh... yeah, sorry about that," she stuttered, a little shaken. "I'm in a hurry, Kai –"

"You've got time to talk to me, surely?" he asked, giving her the most pathetic, begging look she'd ever seen. "What's so important that my Jill can't talk to her darling Kai?"

"She's not _your _Jill," Gray growled menacingly. "Leave the girl alone." Jill shot him an amused smile.

"That's right. Leave me alone." She stuck her tongue out, and Kai ruffled her hair.

"True, you might not be mine. Yet." he winked, and the blonde shook her head, blushing slightly before heading silently out the door. Kai turned to the blacksmith as soon as she was out of sight. "She's great, huh?" Gray grunted in reply, crossing his arms over his chest sullenly.

At a loud cry from outside the room, both men ran towards the door. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Jill picking herself up off the floor, her face bright red. "I... don't tell Ann I slipped," she begged. "I forgot –"

"Idiot!" the waitress called from the top of the stairs, almost doubled over in laughter. "I-di-ot..."

**xxx**

It was one week later, and Jill was absent-mindedly humming to herself as she over-watered yet another tomato plant, no doubt successfully killing it. She scowled, realising her mistake and moved on, only to gain the same result with the next plant.

She screamed piercingly as a pink flower suddenly appeared in front of her, bringing one hand to her chest hurriedly. "Goddess, Kai!" she scolded, exhaling heavily as she recognized the traveller. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry," he said apologetically, bowing his head. She giggled and patted his bandanna.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well... I brought you this," he said slowly, gesturing to the flower in his hand. She took it, her eyes lighting up. "And... I wanted to know if a lovely girl like yourself... is available for the Fireworks Festival?"

"Seriously?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"As friends, of course," he retorted, eyes twinkling. Jill smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"I barely know you."

"I'm a pretty cool person."

She hesitated, before laughing. "Why not. It's either you or by myself, right?"

"Nice to see how enthusiastic you are," he told her in a hurt voice. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm indescribably excited," Jill said in a monotone, twirling the delicate flower in her left hand. "And very sorry for hurting your feelings and lowering your self-esteem." She smirked as Kai's face lit up, and he moved forward to hug her.

"I'll see you Thursday, then," he said when he pulled away. "Meet you at the beach at six?" she nodded. "Awesome. Thanks for the best birthday present I've had."

"The best what?" she asked quickly, her heart sinking. "Kai? Is it your birthday?"

"Twenty first," he replied, striking a pose. Jill laughed, glancing at him. He was so hard to read – it was impossible to tell if he was ever being sincere, though she guessed that most of the time he wasn't. Meaningless flirting – something that she'd come to despise – but Kai managed to do it in such a playful, innocent way that you couldn't help but like him despite it.

**xxx**

The next morning at six o'clock, Jill heard a hesitant knocking. She was, shockingly, already awake and made it to the door in record time.

"Gray," she said in confusion, surprised to see the young blacksmith. "Uh, hey. Come in." He shuffled past her, hat pulled down over his eyes. "How are you?"

"Fine."

"... Oh. Cool. Do you want something to drink, or –"

"No, Jill," he said, shaking his head adamantly. "I'm... here because, uh..." he frowned, turning away from her. "Look, I..."

"Are you okay?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Y-yeah. Did you – actually, never mind. Sorry." Without another word, he turned to leave. Jill ran out in front of him, blocking his path.

"What's going on?" she asked, hands on her hips. "I know you aren't here for nothing."

"It doesn't matter," he mumbled, glancing sideways.

"Pretty sure it does."

"I don't even know what I'm doing," he said, staring at his feet. "I don't really know why I'm here."

"You must," she said gently. He glanced up at her suddenly, his mouth set in a determined line.

"You're new here," he said steadily, "And I was wondering if you had someone to go to the Fireworks with tomorrow."

"Oh, yes, actually!" she said brightly, not recognizing the true meaning to his question. "Kai came past yesterday and asked me if I wanted to go with him. I... hesitated, at first. I mean – I didn't really _want_ to suffer a bloody and violent death at the hands of a pink haired teenager – but I thought it was pretty nice of him to ask me. So I said I would." She trailed off, a slight frown creasing her forehead. "Why did you ask?"

"I... just wanted to make sure you were going. Gramps and I made the fireworks, so, uh... he wanted me to ask if you were coming," he lied. "I'd... better go ask other people, as well."

"Oh," Jill said, raising her eyebrows. "Okay, cool. Well, I'm definitely going."

"Right. See you there," he replied, lifting a hand as a kind of goodbye.

**xxx**

"For heaven's sake," Jill growled, cradling the finger that she'd just stuck a sewing needle into. "This... should... not... hurt... this... much." Apparently, there _was _a reason that she'd failed textiles in high school. She was trying her hardest to sew a dress out of some material that Ellen had given her, but it... wasn't happening. She was meant to meet Kai at the festival in half an hour, she hadn't done her hair or makeup, and this was turning out to be the most pathetic excuse for clothing ever made.

Throwing it down, she raced off to get everything else about herself ready before rushing back and picking up her sewing with minutes to spare. She quickly – messily – joined the pieces of material and pulled on the dress, which miraculously didn't look absolutely ridiculous once she was wearing it.

Okay, no. It looked like crap. But she didn't have time to change it.

She raced out the door and ran all the way to the beach, stopping at the top of the stairs to compose herself when she got there. Her blonde hair was tangled all over her face, sticking to her lipgloss, and her cheeks were flushed a deep red after her sprint. She half-waved as Kai approached her, groaning and resting her hands on her knees.

"Are you... okay?" he asked, a smirk on his face. She made a peculiar noise in reply, and he laughed, taking her arm and leading her over to the pier. "You're late. I thought I'd been stood up." He raised an eyebrow, his smirk growing. "Nice dress."

"Shut up," she muttered through clenched teeth, her fists balled. "I tried." Kai laughed, ruffling her hair fondly.

"Calm down. I'm just teasing."

On the other side of the beach, Mary was frowning slightly as her gaze travelled from Gray to the two people on the pier, and back. "Is there a problem?" she asked quietly, lightly touching his hand. He seemed to snap out of his thoughts, quickly pulling his hand away.

"Uh... no."

Looking hurt but not saying anything about it, the librarian nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

She fell silent, staring up at the dark sky, her forehead creased with worry.

"Wow," Jill said, nudging Kai as the fireworks began. "They're amazing, huh?"

"I know," he replied. "This is the whole reason I'm so glad that I'm always here for Summer. I've been to the fireworks in so many towns – but Mineral Town have the best by far. Gray and Saibara work on them all year, you know."

"They must be very talented," she exhaled. "I can't even begin to imagine... _how _you would make something like fireworks. It's like making magic." Kai laughed at her analysis and shot her a sidewards glance, a small grin tugging at his lips.

"You're cute."

"I hate being called cute."

"You're... interesting."

"Thank you," she smiled. "That's much better."

"Ah – you've got something on your lip," Kai said, a mischevious twinkle in his eye. Jill absent-mindedly lifted her hand, touching her mouth lightly. Kai shook his head. "Here – let me get it." He leaned forward, eyes closed, and his intentions suddenly became clear to the blonde – who had a sudden image of a man with similar dark hair in Kai's place. She jolted back suddenly, panicking, and her scream shattered the peaceful surroundings as her sudden movement sent her tumbling into the icy water.

Gasping, she spluttered as her head ducked under, too frightened to swim to the shore. Barely moments passed, though it seemed like years to Jill, before she heard another loud splash and felt someone's arms wrap tightly around her waist as she was pulled onto the sand.

"K-Kai," she exhaled, clinging to the arm of her savior tightly. "Th-thank -" she stopped herself abruptly as she opened her eyes to see an anxious pair staring back at her, not brown, but bright blue. "Gray?"

He looked away quickly and she suddenly came to the very unpleasant conclusion that the skirt of her dress was a lot closer to her ears than where it should have been. She quickly pulled it down, sat up, and noticed the apprehensive faces of the townsfolk – no doubt wondering how badly she would take her public embarrassment. To their surprise, however, she began giggling hysterically before the doctor moved over and helped her to her feet.

"Clinic. Both of you," he said shortly, pointing to Gray as well. Elli hurried over and took his arm, leading him behind Jill and the doctor as he protested.

"Why do I have to go?" he asked, pulling his trapped arm away from the surprisingly strong nurse and crossing them both over his chest.

"Ever heard of hypothermia?" Tim asked, not even bothering to turn around. "Pneumonia?"

"Frostbite?" Jill put in quietly, shivering. Tim made a scoffing noise at her 'ignorance' and shook his head, clicking his tongue as he unlocked the clinic door.

Gray shifted uncomfortably as he continued his attempt to ignore Jill's eyes on him, staring determinedly. After struggling a bit longer he caved in and glanced at her.

"Thanks," she said simply. Gray looked at her as if he hadn't understood her comment.

"I didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't do. I wasn't going to let you drown." He trailed off, staring at the opposite wall, while Jill sighed and shrugged.

They were sitting in the spare room of the clinic, waiting on Tim to come back. There was one single bed in the room, which Gray had offered to Jill – and which she had refused, offering it to him, which he had refused, offering it to _her_ – until both deigned to simply sit on two plastic chairs.

"I'd like the two of you to remain under my watch at the clinic tonight," a deep voice said, surprising the two of them. "Gray, you can sleep down here in the spare bed."

Elli interrupted, touching the doctor's arm lightly. "Tim... where is Jill going to sleep?"

He hesitated. "A very good point. Make a note, Elli – we need another bed or two."

"Uh... sure... but that doesn't solve our problem tonight," she pressed gently.

"Jill can sleep in my bed," he said after a moment of consideration. Jill raised both eyebrows humorously, while Gray and Elli looked as if they had just bitten into particularly sour lemons. "I'll sleep on the couch," Tim hurried on, clearing up his mistake.

"You can't," Jill refused, shaking her head. "I'm not going to let you sleep on a couch in your own home. Maybe I should go back to the farm and –"

"No arguments," he said shortly. "Elli, see that she has some comfortable clothes to sleep in." Looking slightly resentful at his professional attitude, Elli beckoned for Jill to follow her upstairs.

The blonde's eyes widened slightly when the door to Elli's room was pushed open. "Goddess," she couldn't help but utter. The walls were painted a vibrant green, hardly the pastel colours she'd been expecting. More in touch with Elli's personality, countless soft toys and novels decorated the shelves, and several pictures of herself and Tim stood around in silver frames.

"So... you two are... together, right?" Jill asked slowly, examining the photo closest to her. Tim looked deadly serious, while a soft smile was lighting up the nurse's face.

"I... yes," she said, sounding slightly unsure as she rummaged through a dresser drawer. "There's no... engagement, or anything... but we're... exclusive, I think." Biting her lip and obviously still thinking about the question, Elli turned around, holding out a long-sleeved, floor-length, frilly nightdress.

"Uh... thank you," Jill said, raising her eyebrows again. She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, and turned quickly to see the doctor himself standing in the doorway.

"Jill," he said slowly, a funny look in his eye as he shot glances at Elli. "You need rest. Hurry up." The farmer thankfully scurried out of the room, leaving him with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the nurse.

"Yes...?" Elli said slowly, frowning. He simply shook his head and shrugged, leaving the room after Jill.

**xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

Jill's overnight stay in the clinic had gone off without a hitch, though tension had seemed thick between Elli and Tim for some unknown reason. Apart from a mild cold in the following days, she'd been lucky – of course, just not _drowning _was lucky, so she must have been extra lucky.

It was the last day of Summer when Jill heard a loud and impatient rapping on her door as she removed her head from the sink full of warm water in her kitchen. "Coming!" she yelled, frantically looking around for a towel and shivering in disgust at the feel of water trickling down the back of her neck. Improvising, she grabbed a – clean, she prayed – dishcloth from the benchtop and wrung her hair out as she crossed over to the door.

"Hurry up," a familiar male voice called impatiently. "It's freezing out here!" she quickly opened the door and rolled her eyes as a tall man barrelled straight past her without a greeting.

"Nice manners, Kai."

"Your hair's curly," he observed, sounding genuinely confused. "And wet."

"It's just been washed, idiot. What are you doing here?"

"I've got terrible news for you," he said sadly, glancing at the floor. The blonde's eyes widened and she grabbed his arm, anxiously pulling him down to sit by her on the couch.

"What? What? What's wrong? Is someone sick? Did something burn down? Did Ann do something stupid? Did _Ann _burn something down?" she paused. "Did Ann do anything at all?"

"Worse."

"Goddess, Kai, just tell me!"

"It's the last day of summer," he said, biting his lip and turning away in exaggerated emotion. Jill frowned at him for a few minutes, not following.

"Okay, but... who died?"

"What? Who died?" Kai repeated, his forehead creasing with worry. Jill's eyes narrowed.

"Are you saying that all you needed to tell me was that today's the last day of summer?"

"Of course not," he scoffed, glaring at the floorboards. "I... I always leave on the last day of summer."

"... _That's _all you needed to tell me?" He nodded meekly, and she exhaled. "Kai!"

"Don't be mad," he pleaded, his voice sounding woeful. "It's hard enough that I have to leave you for three seasons –"

"Whatever," Jill scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You scared the life out of me."

"Sorry," he pouted, glancing up to see that her face still looked annoyed. "I... I'm just... upset that I'm not going to see your pretty face for so long."

"Sucking up isn't getting you out of trouble, I hope you realise."

"Not even a little?"

"... Just a tiny bit."

"Good enough for me," he grinned, glancing at the clock by her bed. His face fell dramatically. "Is... that clock right?"

"To the second."

"Then I... can make it to the ferry if I bail right now. And I'm not leaving without a kiss." He crossed his arms over his chest and sat back, making Jill blink at him a few times.

"Without a _what_?"

"I think you heard me."

"Kai, you have to go now!" He ignored her. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek as quickly as she could. He turned around and grinned at her.

"See? I'm irresistible." Glancing at the clock again and starting to look genuinely worried, he rose to his feet. "See you next year, babe."

"Bye," she called, laughing to herself as he sprinted out the door. It was a shame, in a way – Kai certainly made life a whole lot more interesting. But... he'd started to worry her, with the non-stop flirting. He could make her heart race, though she hated to admit it – and the last time someone had been able to do that to her... it hadn't ended well.

**xxx**

"Rick," she called, waving to the sandy-haired boy as she passed the Poultry Farm. He nodded to her, put down what he was doing, and hurried over.

"Hey," he exhaled, blushing slightly for no apparent reason. "How are you?"

"Fine," she replied, grinning as she held out her arms for a hug. "You must be happy."

"I am. He's finally gone," Rick said through gritted teeth. "I hope he doesn't come back next year. I wasn't comfortable with him spending so much time with you, Jill. He's dangerous, and I don't think you realise how –"

"Shh," Jill giggled, holding one hand up to his mouth in an effort to silence him. "Kai's not bad – you've just got a prejudice against him."

"You've been here for two seasons. I've been here for twenty-two years. You're a woman, Kai's a womanizer. So... sorry if I don't quite believe you," he growled, crossing his arms over his chest and fixing her with a glare.

"I can take care of myself," she muttered, crossing her own arms. Rick sighed and brushed some hair away from her face, giving her an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I – I know you can take care of yourself. But I hate the way he looks at you, like he's... Goddess, I don't know. I just feel a lot better now that he's left for at least three seasons. You deserve a lot better than Kai, you know."

"Well... thanks. I wouldn't worry if I was you – I'm not looking for romance anymore, no matter who's offering it." Far from looking relieved, the expression on Rick's face showed that he was a little taken-aback.

"I didn't say that you should rule out romance completely –"

"Oh, I know you didn't," she laughed. "That one was my decision."

"But –"

"Life seems to be a lot easier without it," Jill continued, squinting slightly as the sun appeared from behind a cloud. "Although it's a little bit scary."

"What is?"

Jill hesitated, glancing at her nails. "You know... being alone, if you're coming out of a long-term relationship. I mean – you spend your entire life as a child and teenager, all that time of changing, with the same person... and they become a big part of you. It's terrifying, trying to work out who you are without them... and trying to work out why they found it easy to leave you, when losing _them_ seems like the scariest thing in the world."

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked, placing both hands on her shoulders and ducking down to her eye-level. She shrugged, a smile on her face once more.

"I have no idea. Just... my inner hardcore feminist rambling, I guess. Love is evil, men are evil, rah-rah-rah."

"What?" he blinked.

"... Yeah, I'm gonna go now." Waving carelessly over her shoulder, Jill turned around and continued up the road.

Rick sighed, turning back to the chicken coops, his mind working at a scary pace. Jill was... so _weird_, although that wasn't really the choice word for it. It was like she was confusing and contradicting herself – and everyone else – non-stop.

That growing soft spot he had for her wasn't helping matters, any. There was something about her that made him want to protect her, even more than he did for Popuri, from evils like Kai. It was... frightening, the violent daydreams he'd had after seeing Jill talking to the traveller, even for a moment. Kai couldn't take care of her.

Not saying that _he _could, exactly, or even that he wanted to. He was... involved with Karen, who was already suspicious of his connection to Jill – and Goddess, did he hate it when Karen was right.

Then again –

"Rick!"

Speak of the devil.

"Hey, Karen," he called, forcing a smile.

"Are you busy?"

"Yeah, I –" he began, gesturing to the bags of chicken feed at his feet. Obviously not listening, Karen grabbed his wrist and started pulling him out the gate.

"Cool. We need to go talk to Mary – she's been a little out-of-sorts lately. And..." she sighed. "I think... the best thing we can do is to just... be there for her. I mean, I know I've had all these plans and... _awesome _schemes and whatever... but I'm sick of that. It's just prolonging the inevitable, you know?"

"Inevitable? What?" Rick asked, certain that today had been declared the annual 'Confuse Rick' day. Karen glared at him, rolling her eyes, then continued.

"It's... because it's Mary, that I'm worried," she said, sounding genuinely sad. "If she has to deal with something like a heartbreak, she won't lean on us – she'll push us away. She won't talk it out, she won't cry it out. She'll just... let it all come crashing down, and implode or something."

"Karen, I have... _no _idea what you're talking about."

"Men," she snorted, shaking her head in exasperation. "You never understand things like this, and frankly, I can't be bothered explain –" she stopped talking abruptly, her eyes narrowing.

"Jill," Rick called thankfully, seeing the blonde farmer once more, up ahead near the winery. "What are you doing?"

"Wasting time," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Come to the library with us, then," he said, ignoring Karen's indignant spluttering. "We're just going to visit Mary, right?" He glanced at Karen, then paled significantly at the glare on her face. "Uh... if you want."

She shrugged again. "I guess. I don't have anything else to do."

"_You_ have nothing to do?" Karen asked sweetly. "Such a dedicated farmer?" Obviously picking up on the heavy sarcasm in her voice, Jill frowned, falling silent and trailing beside Rick. The unusual trio travelled the rest of the way without a word, before Rick thankfully pushed the glass door of the library open.

"Good morning," Mary called with a half-smile. Gray, sitting at one of the long benches with a book, nodded curtly to them.

"Hey," Karen replied warmly. She turned to the chicken farmer. "I need to talk to you."

"You've been talking to me for ages," he groaned. Karen narrowed her eyes and pulled him to the upper floor, leaving Jill's gaze to travel nervously from Mary, to Gray, to Mary, to Gray.

"You haven't been by in awhile, Gray," the librarian observed quietly, turning to the blacksmith and ignoring Jill. "This is the first time this week. Work must be hard."

"Not really."

"... Oh."

"I'm sure he's being modest," Jill laughed in an effort to lessen the tension. "Blacksmithing is probably one of the hardest physical jobs I could imagine. Shaping metal – I have no clue how you do it."

"It's hard," he replied after a moment, "But... not any harder than usual. I think I'm... getting a little used to it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he replied, staring uncomfortably back down at his book. Seconds later, Karen and Rick returned, seeming annoyed at each-other.

"So, Gray," Karen said cheerfully, despite the scowl that Rick shot her, clearly saying 'don't interfere.' "How are you?"

"Fine, Karen," he replied, obviously wary.

"And Mary, how are you?"

"I'm... okay..." she said, her voice cautious.

"Really? Wow, so... together, you're both good?"

"Karen!"

"Shut up, Rick. I'm allowed to ask."

"Guys...?" Jill said quietly. "I might get back to the farm now –"

"I'll walk you there," Gray said, shooting to his feet. His face was red with embarrassment.

"It's only two o'clock –" Mary protested, glancing at the clock on the wall. She sighed. "Well... come by tomorrow, if you can."

"I might... need to work."

Nodding miserably, the librarian turned to look at Karen who was scowling. Taking large steps, Gray hurriedly pushed the blonde out the door in front of him before the pretty brunette could say anything.

**xxx**

"What's going on between you and Mary?" Jill asked quietly once they were out of ear-shot from the library. The man next to her seemed to tense up.

"Nothing."

She scoffed. "Yeah, obviously." A tiny smirk on his face, Gray simply shook his head. "Go on. Explain it to me. Is she your girlfriend?"

"She's a friend."

"A friend, or a _friend_?"

"A friend."

Silence fell between them, uncomfortable for Jill. If there was one thing she didn't like, one thing she tried to avoid, it was awkward silences. It usually meant that at least one of the two had something on their mind, but wouldn't say what. And clearly, something wasn't right between the blacksmith and the librarian.

"Don't hurt her," Jill said suddenly, earning her a confused glance.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry. That wasn't my place."

"What did you mean?"

She hesitated, before exhaling. "It's just... if you don't feel the same way about her that she does about you... it's wrong for both of you if you encourage it. But if you're going to let her down... let her down easy, okay? A broken heart is, hands down, the worst thing a girl can go through."

"She's just a friend, Jill."

"Okay. If you say so."

"You don't believe me."

She paused, blinking at him thoughtfully. "I believe that you believe it."

"... Uh..."

"It doesn't take long to get around this place, does it? That was... maybe... five minutes, from the library to here." Gray glanced up and noticed, surprised, that they'd reached the farm already. "You can stay for awhile, if you want –"

"Goddess, you're popular."

"Hmm?" The blonde followed his gaze to the side of her house, and her jaw dropped silently. "When the heck did that mailbox get there?"

Gray raised an eyebrow at her. "You... didn't know you had a mailbox." Jill didn't answer, too busy flipping open the lid, overflowing with letters.

"Library... Supermarket... junk, junk, junk, junk... junk... junk, Clinic, junk, junk... Supermarket again... junk..." the blacksmith tuned her out for a few minutes, before a tiny gasp turned his attention back onto her.

She was clutching a small white envelope, studying the front of it intently. Her forehead was creased as she turned it over and over in her hands.

"Jill? Who's that letter from?" She glanced up at him, suddenly looking about ten years younger. "Who's it from, Jill?" she switched on an obviously forced smile and shrugged in a failed attempt at indifference.

"My brother."

**xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**xxx**

Gray blinked in incomprehension. "You have a brother?"

Jill nodded. "_And _a mailbox!" she joked weakly. Gray didn't seem to find her joke terribly amusing. He frowned at her, tilting his head to the side and placing two fingers underneath her chin in concern.

"Do you want me to go and leave you to read that in private?" he asked slowly. Jill immediately shook her head from side to side.

"No, I – please stay. Actually..." she trailed off, obviously contemplating something important. With a huge sigh, she added, "This might be too much, but could... you read it to me? I just... don't think I'm brave enough to read it myself."

"Uh, yeah... no problem." Gray pried the letter out of Jill's trembling hand and glanced at it curiously, wondering what it could possibly contain that Jill wouldn't read. Well, he'd find out soon enough.

He ripped open the top of the envelope, unfolded the lined paper inside, cleared his throat and began to read. The letter was dated Summer 8th.

"**Jill,"**

"Wait," Jill interrupted quickly. "Can we go inside?" Gray shrugged and followed her inside, sitting down on the couch beside her. She took a deep breath, then beckoned for him to continue reading.

"**Jill, **

**First, if you're wondering how the heck I knew where to send this, let me just say that you never were – and never will be – a great secret keeper. The day after you left, (with nothing but that ridiculously short note stuck under my door... thanks for that. Not.) I was looking for clues to hint at where you'd gone. I was certain I'd have to tear your room apart, but as soon as I walked in, the first thing I saw was an open newspaper on your desk with bright green highlighting in a circle around an ad for a farm. A farm, Jill? You? I can still remember how terrified you were of most animals. Are you sure you really ****know**** what a farm is?" **Jill stuck her tongue out at the paper, scowling. **"Anyway, all I had to do was call the real-estate agent and ask for the address."**

"Damn it..." Jill muttered. Gray half-smiled and continued reading.

"**Of course, I didn't tell Mom or Dad. To be honest... they've been trying to hush up your leaving a lot. I'm pretty certain that the current story is something about you travelling the world with a friend, before coming back for college. It's ridiculous. **

**No-one believes it, obviously. They've put two and two together, but Mom and Dad still keep on with the stories. I think they're pretty certain that you're going to give up, wherever you are, and come on home soon. Got to admit, it'd be nice if you did. I miss you. Things aren't the same here, with you gone."**

Gray stopped and took a deep breath, glancing up to see Jill with tears in her eyes. She brushed them away impatiently, and he kept reading.

"**I understand why you're doing it. Independence, right? Amongst other reasons. Jill... I don't know what to tell you. I mean, I do, but I don't know how to say it. I've been drafting this letter for hours, and this is always the part I get stuck on. Maybe I should just come out and say it, huh?"**

"Has he really written all that?" Jill asked in disbelief. Gray nodded, and she smiled. "He's such an idiot. What's he trying to say? Knowing him, it'll be something like... the goldfish died. Ah. What's he written?" Gray glanced down, trying to find his place in the letter, and cleared his throat.

"**It's about Veronica and Tom, so you can probably guess." **

"Oh no," the blonde whispered quietly, clapping one hand over her mouth.

"**They're married."**As soon as Gray said the words, the blonde made a choking sound, staring blankly ahead, her face chalk-white. A moment later, she'd collapsed into helpless tears, leaving him speechless. He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder as her body convulsed with sobs. "Jill?"

"Goddess," she choked, jamming her palms to her eyes. "I – can't..." she suddenly threw her arms around his neck, soaking his jacket with her tears as he awkwardly held her.

"Jill, I can stop reading... just... please don't cry..."

She exhaled shakily before pulling back from Gray and resting her head in her hands, tears still flowing. "No," she forced out, "Please finish it. I'll just have to read it myself later, if you don't."

Gray hesitated, then started again.** "I'm so sorry, Sis. It still makes me sick to think of everything that happened, and Goddess, I hope you're doing okay. You're a strong kid, but I hate that you're going to be reading this all by yourself. I want to be there for you. I miss you like you wouldn't believe, and I'd be in that little town with you as soon as I could if I had the chance.**

**I love you, Jill. I'm going to try look up your number and call you soon. If I can't find your number, you call me. Okay? **

**Love, Jack."** Gray finished nervously. Jill half-smiled, almost out of tears, then sighed.

"I - I guess I'd better fill you in, then."

"If you'd rather not talk about it..."

"You've done so much for me today... you deserve the truth, at least." She closed her eyes briefly, as if gathering her strength. "See... I never told anyone that I was leaving to come here, except... my big brother. And I didn't even tell _him_ where I was going. Basically, I'm one of three children – myself... Jack – who's three years older than me... and my sister, Veronica," she seemed to stumble just saying the name, "Who's a year younger than me."

**xxx**

A stunning red-head of about fourteen pushed through the front door of her home, dropping her school bag and carrying a large manila folder into the kitchen. "Mom?"

"Darling," a blonde woman called, rinsing a tomato at the sink. She dried her manicured hands and crossed the room, kissing her daugher's cheek. "How was your report?"

The girl shrugged, holding out the folder. "It was okay. Straight A's, but I was only second in the form for Geography, thanks to Tayla Spiller. It's fine, though. She doesn't have a social life, so she should really be getting top in _every_ subject."

"Oh, Veronica – don't worry about Tayla. Geography doesn't matter anyway. Your father is going to be so proud..."

"No-one was even close in Maths," Veronica announced proudly.

Her mother beamed. "That's my girl. Thank you for coming home so promptly, too – I don't even _expect_ that from your brother and sister, anymore. Goodness knows what they're up to."

"Jack shouldn't be too long – he was chatting up Cassie when I left, but she annoys him, so he won't stay long."

"She's beautiful now, isn't she? She was a plain little girl, growing up."

"All Jack's girlfriends are beautiful," she called over her shoulder, heading into the living room. "She's nothing special for him." She hesitated, then turned back to her mother. "Jillian might be longer. I saw her kissing Tom when the last bell rang, and goodness knows where she went."

The blonde woman clicked her tongue impatiently. "That girl... she's thought of nothing but _him _since she was a child. I should get a bit of a laugh out of her report, at least." At that point, a dark-haired, blue-eyed boy walked in, an older man by his shoulder. "Afternoon Paul," she said, kissing her husband. She turned to her son. "How was Cassie, Jack?"

Scowling at his younger sister, Jack sighed. "She was fine. She wanted to go out somewhere because it's the last day of school – I had to tell her I was grounded to get out of it."

"You're eighteen. What on earth would you be grounded for?"

Jack winced, holding out a manila folder similar to Veronica's. "My report?"

"Why? What does it say?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid to look." This was a yearly family ritual – Jack would get stressed out because he hadn't done any work all semester – then relaxed significantly when he realised that somehow, that hadn't shown up on his report.

"Mostly B's... A's... you can do better, you know – look at this, you were only top in science and music."

"And sport –"

"Sport doesn't count as a subject, in this family." Jack scowled again and made his way over to the couch, flopping down with a sigh.

"And... I'm finished school forever. Next year, I'm free! Free!"

"No, honey, next year you'll be _working_. Remember what work feels like?"

"Nope," Jack answered smartly. He was saved from his mother's wrath as the door flew open and a pretty blonde girl stepped in, a wide smile on her face.

"I'll call you tonight, Tom!" she called over her shoulder, before turning around to three sets of raised eyebrows, and her brother's nervous face. "Uh... hi, guys."

"Good afternoon, Jillian," her mother said, stopping her as she tried to sneak past. "Nice of you to finally join us. How was your report?"

"... I don't know. I think I left it at school."

"Nice try," her father put in, grabbing the folder from her open backpack. He silently handed it to his wife, obviously not remotely interested, then moved into the other room to watch television.

"You nearly _failed _maths?" her mother said incredulously, a few moments later. "For goodness sakes, why on earth did we pay for all that tutoring? Listen to this... 'Jillian is a polite, well-mannered, hard-working student. Her basic mathematic ability is not good, even though it has increased significantly this past semester, blah blah blah... -_ still struggles greatly with complicated equations and worded problems_.' Jillian, I am never going to understand how you –"

"She's trying, Mom," Jack interrupted. "Don't be so hard on her."

"Keep out of this, Jack! Look, English – C. That's pathetic – you're closer to the bottom of the form, than the top. History – C. Dance... oh, that's a shock. Top of the class. It's incredibly lazy of you, only working hard at the idiotic subjects that you like. You're so selfish, Jillian – think about how it reflects on us, your parents. We have done _everything _we can to ensure that you do well in school, and you make fools out of us constantly!"

"Mom!" Jack yelled, fed up with watching his sister's eyes become brighter and brighter, nearly overflowing with tears. "Just leave it, okay? You don't need to discuss it right now."

"Fine," she spat, "We won't discuss it now – but I swear to you, Jillian, you're not going to be discussing a thing with Tom, either. I absolutely prohibit you from contacting him until we get this sorted out."

"But... how long will that be?" Jill protested weakly. Her mother shrugged, a glare on her face.

"Honestly, I don't care how long it takes. An improvement in your grades is more important than any boy."

"He's not just 'any boy', Mom! You _know _I love him!"

"You don't know what love is. You're fifteen, for heaven's sake. Stop being a drama queen." Stifling an angry sob, the blonde turned and dashed upstairs. Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

"She does too love him."

"Just because she doesn't have someone new every week, like you, doesn't mean she loves him," his mother said defensively, though looking a little ashamed. Jack groaned and threw his hands up in the air, before following Jill and knocking on her closed bedroom door. He heard a defeated sigh.

"Mom, please... I'll talk, but not just now. Can't I have ten minutes?" Jack peered around the doorframe cautiously, and her face relaxed into a smile. "Oh. Hey, you."

"You okay?"

She shrugged. "I guess. It just... bugs me, that I'm constantly being compared to you two – Veronica especially. My report's improved since last year, but it's still... nowhere near the two of you. And... you two don't even need to try, either. I disappoint my teachers, who expect me to be like you and Veronica... I disappoint my parents... I disappoint myself. The only one I don't disappoint is Tom..." a fond smile made its way onto her face, "And... Mom and Dad hate him."

"You'd think that they'd realise you're not breaking up with him any time soon. You've been together since you were... what, three?"

"Six or seven," she laughed, gesturing to a photo on her bedside table. A little dark-haired boy had his nose scrunched and eyes squinted shut as an equally tiny blonde kissed his cheek. "The worst thing... is how they treat Veronica's boyfriends. You know, 'one of the family' and all that junk. They'd treat your girlfriends like that too – if you ever kept them long enough to bring them home." Jack frowned at her.

"This isn't about my – shh. Keep talking about Tom."

"I don't really feel like talking," she said with a small smile. "Maybe later, okay?"

_**Four Years Later...**_

"Jack, I really don't feel like talking." Jack took his little sister's face in his hands and examined it in concern.

"You haven't been talking all week." Jill shrugged wordlessly, making Jack sigh. "I can't believe it's taking you this long to get over Tom. You guys broke up a week ago."

"Exactly. A week... is nothing." Jack shot her a confused glance. Certainly, he was finding it hard to understand and comfort Jill – he'd never been anywhere near this upset over... any girl. A week seemed like an eternity to move on from a relationship, to him. It had been sickening, seeing this spiritless shell of his sister for the past seven days.

"Tell me how he said it, please. Did he just... break it off?" Jill glanced down at her shaking hands and closed her eyes. "Jill."

"He said..." she paused. "He said... he had feelings for someone else."

"Oh, Goddess. Come here." Jack wrapped his arms around her, expecting her to start crying. She stayed surprisingly strong and steady.

"I want to know who it is," she said in a regular voice. "I want to kill her. How – _how_ can he possibly...?"

"He's a jerk."

"He isn't," she flared up defensively. "Don't say that about him. You know he isn't. I mean... maybe something's going on at home for him, and he can't... can't afford to have a girlfriend at the moment. I'm just... really not looking forward to dinner, tonight."

"Yeah. That's insensitive. I mean, you'd think Veronica could give you... at least another week, before introducing us all to her new boyfriend, right?"

"Being selfless never was her strong point. But it's not just that she has a boyfriend and I don't. It's more the way that Mom and Dad act when she has a boyfriend over... they suck up like crazy, treat him like a king... and they always treated Tom like dirt. Maybe, if they hadn't always pushed him away..."

"Sis, you can't just blame them. It's Tom's fault, first and foremost, and you can't blame anybody else until you know for sure why he did it."

"I hate when you're right," she sighed. "I just... have no energy. I can't even face getting dressed for dinner, at the moment." She glanced at the floor, before whispering, "He's the only boyfriend I've ever had. I'm nineteen, and I've had one boyfriend. Then I look at someone like you, who probably can't even remember how many girlfriends you've had –"

"I'd rather have had what you had," he said sincerely. "It meant something to you. But I've... never been in love, and at this age, I find that pretty sad." He stood up abruptly and shot her a sympathetic glance. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest fiercely. "Get dressed, kiddo. You haven't eaten or slept for days."

She sighed, scrambling to her feet and shuffling over to her wardrobe in slow motion. "How would you know?"

"You look an absolute mess."

"That's lovely," she said, gesturing for him to leave her room.

Jill made her bleary-eyed descent down the stairs in a short green dress several minutes later, only to be met with a disapproving scowl from her mother. Her mother was wearing a long evening dress and her hair was shining and tidy, in comparison to Jill's straggly, unwashed blonde mass.

"Jillian, you're really letting yourself go. I find it selfish of you, just so you know. Veronica always takes such good care of her looks when it's a special night of yours, and tonight is _so _special for her... you can't even be bothered putting on a little makeup."

"Mom, I don't feel well," she sighed. "Can we just..."

"I don't have time to deal with you," she said, storming off into the kitchen. Veronica stepped out of her room and walked over, standing beside her sister.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." She glanced at her, and allowed herself a tiny smile. "You look beautiful."

Veronica quickly looked down at her blue dress. "Thanks. You, uh..." she hesitated. "I've always liked that dress."

"So, tell me something about this guy," Jill said, though it hurt her to even ask. Her sister's face went pale.

"There's... there's not much to tell, really... he's pretty normal. No criminal record or anything, from what I've heard."

"That's usually a good thing. What's his name?"

"I –" she was interrupted by a knock on the door, and far from looking relieved, went even more pale. "That's him."

"You must really like him," Jill laughed. "You look terrified." Veronica gave a tiny whimper in reply and blinked up as her mother raced into the room, beaming.

"Is that him, darling? I'll get it." She walked over into the hallway, hidden from both girl's line of sight. The simpering change in her voice became obvious when she opened the door.

Jill had... zero interest in meeting the boy, talking to him, or going through the tired ritual of smiling at him politely, admiring his clothes, laughing at his pathetic jokes... her family's requirements whenever Veronica brought a boyfriend over. And every single boyfriend – she'd had a lot, by eighteen years old – seemed to be exactly the same. Good looking, tall, wealthy, intelligent, polite – boring.

"It's wonderful to see you," her mother was gushing as two pairs of footsteps made their way back through the hall.

High cheekbones, gorgeous dark hair, tanned skin, white teeth – her breath caught in her chest as Tom; not Veronica's new boyfriend; Tom – came walking through the door next to her mother.

She nearly burst into tears on the spot. She'd never expect it of her family – they'd obviously made up the story about Veronica's new boyfriend, only to surprise her with Tom. It was so sweet of them, so unexpected, and –

Why the _heck _was he kissing _Veronica_ on the cheek? Why were his arms around her waist?

Oh.

Realisation hit, slowly and painfully. Her mother's warning glare, telling her not to make a scene – Tom's casual, expressionless smile – and Veronica, who at least had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. What her own face looked like, she didn't have the slightest clue.

"I... left something upstairs," she managed to blurt out, though words were almost impossible for her. She span on her heel, crashing straight into Jack, then pushing past him and racing upstairs without another word.

A look of utter disgust on his face, Jack simply shook his head at the three people in front of him. "You've gone way too far. I hope you're proud of yourselves." Turning away from the group, he followed the path that Jill had taken until he was standing outside her bedroom door. He gently pushed it open, and was met with a sight that any loving brother could go without seeing – his little sister sitting on the edge of her bed, staring blankly ahead, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Jill," he muttered, walking over and kneeling down to her eye-level. She shook her head wordlessly and he sighed, standing up and wrapping his arms around her. Shaking violently, she leaned into his shoulder.

"W-why," she eventually choked out.

"I don't know," Jack replied honestly, tightening his grip on her. A few minutes passed, before she sighed and pulled away.

"Sorry... could you...?"

"Yeah, of course," he said immediately, standing up to leave. "You probably need time by yourself. If you need me..."

"Thanks," she replied, nodding. He left, and she got to her feet, walking slowly over to a closet in the corner of her room, pulling out two suitcases, and moving over to her wardrobe.

**xxx**

It was dark the next time she was conscious of her surroundings. She blinked a few times to clear her aching head, then gazed around the room from where she was lying on her bed. _I must have fallen asleep while packing, _she thought, her eyes locating the five full suitcases next to the door. _I need a few more things..._

Her room was still far from empty, but she had more than just the necessities packed. Then again, there was barely anything she could stand parting with... and once she'd gone, she didn't intend to come back. It took her another hour or so to choose what to pack and what to leave behind, and when she'd finished, she pulled her final suitcase over to her bedroom door.

"This is it," she exhaled. _Walk out the front door. Start over._

_You've got nowhere to go._

She stopped abruptly and sighed, the reality of the matter setting in. She had... a reasonable amount of savings, but nowhere near enough to buy her own home. She'd probably need to rent a flat, get a roommate... and stay in the city, which was the worst thing. She didn't have the money to pay for travelling a long way, but Goddess, she wanted to get as far away as possible. If it came down to it though, renting somewhere in the city would be better than staying here with that backstabbing, selfish, twisted –

_Don't think about it. Don't think about it._ She'd been doing a pretty good job of keeping her mind off it so far – if she gave herself even a couple of moments, she'd break down and not get anything done. Determinedly walking downstairs and grabbing a newspaper from the kitchen bench, she sat down at the table and rifled through to the real estate section. Before she could flip through to rental properties, a half-page advertisment caught her eye.

**'Are you tired of the hustle and bustle of city-living? Is the stress of your job becoming too much? Why not try being your own boss? Start over on a beautiful, spacious and prosperous farm property in a gorgeous storybook town, unspoilt by the evils of modern society. Call Mt Realtor, now open 24 hours.'**

"It sounds amazing," she said to herself sadly. It really did sound perfect – but heavens, they were probably expecting millions with a description like that. Just to put the idea out of her mind completely, she quickly searched the page for a price – and her heart nearly stopped.

That couldn't be right, could it? That... ridiculously low price. Maybe that was just the price for one of the barns, or something? But searching the rest of the advertisment, she couldn't see another amount. Just to be sure...

She grabbed the home phone off the bench and punched in the contact number on the paper, drumming her fingers impatiently on the table until a bored-sounding receptionist picked up.

"Hello, Mt Realtor, Janine speaking. How can I help –"

"Hi," Jill interrupted breathlessly. "Hi, I'm just... I'm just looking through today's newspaper here, and there's an advertisment – a farm in a place called Mineral Town, it says..."

"Oh, yes," the receptionist said, suddenly sounding a lot more chipper. "An absolutely beautiful property, that one."

"It sounds... wonderful. But... I have a limited budget, and I was... wondering about the price."

"It should say the price on the ad. There's no hidden fees, nothing else."

"The only price on the ad is ridiculously low..." she read out the number.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Are... are you serious?"

"Yes, Miss –"

"Evans."

"Miss Evans. The farm is avaliable as soon as you want to move in. If you want to take it, that is –"

"I'll take it," Jill replied instantly.

"How wonderful," Janine said, sounding almost relieved. "I can have the mayor meet you with the keys at six o'clock tonight, if you'd like."

"Fantastic. How do I... get there?"

"A ferry trip has already been arranged for the buyer." Jill spoke to the woman for several minutes more, going over legal matters and organizing payment, before hanging up and suppressing an urge to scream with happiness.

She grabbed a pen and piece of paper and scribbled a hurried note.

**Jack – I'm leaving home. I know you'll probably think I'm being a coward – maybe I am – but I can't stay. I'm not going to tell you where I'm going, because I know you'll think it's your 'duty' to come and drag me back home. Thank you for being there for me all these years. I'll return the favour someday. I love you – Jill. **Examining the brief note, she decided that if the tables were turned... she would quite literally kill him for writing so little. Sneaking upstairs, she slipped the note under her brother's door, banking on the fact that he was probably asleep at 3am. Crossing the hallway and walking into her room, she gazed around.

It actually did look a lot more empty, she decided, placing the newspaper in her hand onto her desk. She shook her head quickly and flicked the light switch off, a tear trickling down her cheek as she walked out of a room that was no longer hers.

**xxx**

"I don't regret it, either," Jill finished with a wry smile. "I don't really want to imagine how much I could have been hurt if I'd stayed."

Gray's face had been struck with silent disbelief throughout her story, and he shook his head now. "I don't see how your own sister... could do something like that. And that guy? Tom, or whatever the heck his name was? Goddess, how could he..." he trailed off, shaking his head again. "I don't understand it." He stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact with the blonde for a long time, before eventually forcing himself to glance up. He immediately wished that he hadn't, mostly due to the devastated expression on her face as she gazed at Jack's letter.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I'm being so stupid... my little sister's married, right? I should be so happy for her... but if she walked in the door right now, I swear to the Goddess, I'd chop her to pieces with my axe and feed her to the animals." Gray cringed, partly due to the disturbingly graphic image she had given him, and partly due to the fresh tears in her eyes. Completely clueless when it came to what to say, he silently prayed that she would either miraculously cheer up, or someone who _did _know what to do would come along and rescue him.

"It's okay," he said for lack of anything else to say. She actually smiled, realising his predicament. "Uh..."

"Don't worry," Jill said softly. "I'll be okay in a few moments. I don't usually cry like this, I swear."

"It's just... I mean, of course you're probably really upset... but you've been getting on with life so well. It's... kind of amazing." He received a brilliant smile. "I had no idea that anything like that had happened to you. You're not letting it show, and... I guess that's kind of the best way to be. Acting like they're not affecting you."

The blonde still had that smile on her face. "Hey... did you want to go to the inn for awhile?" she asked suddenly. Gray blushed, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

"I guess."

"Cool," she said, standing up. "Just... wait a few minutes until I get myself cleaned up. Trust me – going out into public with red eyes gets the same response as going out with a signpost telling people to ask you what's wrong."

"I'll wait outside, then," he said, walking out the front door.

"Gray?" Jill called after him. He turned around. "Thanks."

He gave her a slight smirk. "There's nothing to thank me for."

**xxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**xxx**

"What are you two doing here together?" Ann asked, smirking as she sidled over to Gray – who gave her a death glare – and Jill, who just smiled back at her. Her smirk faltered slightly as she looked carefully at Jill. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she mumbled, her cheeks colouring.

"Yeah right, I –"

"Leave it, Ann," Gray snapped. The waitress glared at him, shooting Jill another worried glance.

"I'll explain later," the blonde promised. "I got some... news, from home."

"Is everything okay?"

"... Nothing terrible happened. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Ann," Gray said warningly. She made a zipping motion across her mouth, signifying that she wasn't going to say any more about it. For the time being.

"Okay, okay – you two can find your own table, right? I'd help you to one, but I'm completely swamped with work at the moment. You should hear Dad – fix this, serve that, take their order, stop juggling those, blah blah blah. So... because I know that you two won't dob me in, I'm ignoring you until things quiet down."

"I'm totally dobbing," Jill scowled jokingly as Ann raced off to Tim and Elli, her red hair coming out of its braid in wild strands. "That girl has... way too much energy."

"I know. Cliff's a brave man." Jill locked eyes with Gray, suddenly confused.

"What do you mean? Are... Cliff and Ann...?"

"They will be," the blacksmith smirked. "There's something there – she's had a thing for him for ages. And he's..." he stopped, eyeing Jill almost suspiciously. "Well... guys aren't meant to gossip about what their friends say."

"But in this case..."

Gray shrugged, a small smirk on his face. "It could be mutual. That's all I can say." He smiled at the grin on Jill's face as she shot a meaningful glance at the flustered Ann, scribbling frantically on a notepad and telling Duke off for 'being loud' simultaneously. "And, I'll say it again – he's a brave man."

"Tell me about it," Jill retorted, slightly horrified as Ann tugged sharply on Duke's ear. "She's insane."

"Who is?" Ann asked, appearing behind Jill out of nowhere. The blonde slapped both hands over her mouth, muffling a scream.

"Don't... do that!" Grinning evilly, the waitress shrugged. "Shouldn't you be working, still?"

"Yup. I'm going on strike, though. Worker's rights and what-have-you. I'm pretty sure that the boss's daughter shouldn't have to work as hard as the other employees."

"You're the only employee, Ann," Gray groaned, rubbing his temples.

"True. Say, would you two like jobs here?"

"Ann, you're not trying to hire people again, are you?" Doug called, walking out of the kitchen. She shook her head innocently. "Get back to work."

"Yes sir."

Both Jill and Gray were speechless as Ann walked away once again, a spring in her step. "She scares me," Jill admitted quietly, biting her thumbnail. Gray nodded in silent agreement.

"Jill," a high voice said from behind her. She turned to see Popuri, a worried expression etched on her pretty face. "Have you seen Rick?"

"No," she replied, frowning slightly. "Why?" the teenager hesitated, and Jill's frown grew deeper. "Why, Popuri?"

"I just... saw him have a huge fight with Karen outside the supermarket... and your name came up, but I didn't hear the context it was used in." She received funny looks from both Gray and Jill, and she shrugged. "Hey, I know some big words."

"Are they okay?"

"I think Karen was crying," she said slowly, "But she wouldn't let me talk to her. She just ran into her room, and her dad told me I should probably leave. Rick... well, I saw him walk off upset... I don't know where he went, which is kind of why I'm looking for him now." Popuri glanced around the rest of the room, biting her bottom lip. She was seen as immature and ditzy – truth be told, she was – but she loved her brother. Rick was constantly trying to be the strong one, trying to protect her and their mother, and he very rarely let Popuri see him upset. It had been a big shock to her, watching him storm away from his girlfriend, obviously close to tears.

"That's terrible," Jill said quietly. "You don't think they broke up –"

"I'm pretty sure they did," she replied instantly. "Karen looked... really angry... so I think Rick was the one that did it, or he did something to deserve it."

"Guys," Gray interrupted. They both turned to him, and he nodded briskly at the door.

"Rick," Popuri called, running over and hugging her brother. He attempted a half-smile, despite the red rim around his eyes.

"Hey, Poppy. What's up?"

"Did you break up with Karen?" she asked, foregoing any sense of tact. Rick looked shocked, then saddened, while Jill crossed the room to the pair.

"Rick..." she said softly, touching his arm. He adjusted his glasses and turned to his sister quickly.

"Poppy, can you go make sure the... chickens haven't escaped? I think I've left the coop door open." Despite that being the most unlikely situation in the world – Rick neglecting his precious chickens – Popuri immediately agreed and bounced off. Once she was out of sight, he turned back to Jill, a light blush tinging his cheeks. "I need to talk to you."

"I bet," she nodded sympathetically. "You must be devastated."

"Right," a loud, bossy female voice called. "You two – back room, now." They shot each other desperate glances as Ann whirled over and hustled them both through a door behind the counter.

"Right, Jill. You've been looking miserable since you walked in the door, and I was going to let it wait, but Rick's looking like someone poisoned the poultry's drinking water –" Rick's eyes widened in absolute horror, "– and as a good... a great friend, I really don't think I can let it go. So who wants to explain first?" Both blondes pointed at each other immediately, and Ann narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I'll choose. Rick, explain."

"It's nothing," he shrugged, wincing at the disbelieving glances he received. He paused for a moment, before glancing at the ground. "Karen and I broke up."

"Goddess," Ann said instantly, shocked. "Are you... are you serious? What? How? Who broke up with who?"

"I... think I broke up with her," he said slowly, glancing at the ceiling. Jill raised an eyebrow.

"You... think?"

"It all just... happened in one huge blur. It really was just like a car crash or something – she was yelling, I was yelling. We were both saying some horrible things, and then... the next thing I knew, she was storming into the supermarket, I was storming down to the farm – to find you, Jill – and... somehow I knew we'd broken up, though I don't think anyone really said it." He glanced up and flinched again at the two pitying faces before him. "But yeah... anyway, Jill's story..."

"Rick, we're not done with you yet."

"No," Ann interrupted. Jill's heart sank. If Ann was adamant to get the story out of her, get the story out she would. "We're coming back to Rick, make no mistake, but I want an idea of what happened to you, first."

"I... don't want to talk about it, Ann."

"Oh, darling," she said gently, patting Jill's blonde head. "I know. But you're gonna."

Jill crossed her arms over her chest and pouted at Ann indignantly for goodness knows how long until the redhead stared her down.

"I already told you. I got bad news from home."

"I also know that that's the most vague explanation I've ever heard. Ever. And I live with Cliff and Gray – they're not the biggest fans of communication."

"You make up for it," Jill muttered under her breath. The waitress raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that... and you're going to explain what's wrong."

Hesitating for a few minutes, Jill glanced at her hands. She shot a sidewards glance at Rick, watching her closely, and sighed. "I had a... very close boyfriend, in the city, and... he's just married my sister. It's nothing terrible."

"Are you still in love with him?" Ann asked, biting her lip and looking like she regretted being so forward. Jill nodded slowly.

"It's okay. They'll be happy," she exhaled, wanting to escape the conversation.

"But did they –"

"Please, Ann," she snapped. "I'll tell you about it when I'm ready. Rick's more important right now, anyway."

She looked shocked, but nodded quickly. "Uh... Rick. Right. What did... what did the fight start over?" Her voice trembled the slightest bit and she wouldn't look directly at Jill.

"I... don't remember," he stuttered, apparently uncomfortable with the sudden tension in the room.

"I'm gonna get you back together," Ann said suddenly, determined once again. "I'm going to talk to her."

"I can't – I can't talk to her right now," Rick replied, shaking his head.

"Hence the 'I'm' used at the beginning of my sentence. You don't need to do a thing – it's probably better if you don't, anyway. You always say the wrong thing."

"Okay, Little Miss Tactful," he said, rolling his eyes. "Look... please don't say anything to her. I'll face her myself when I'm ready. I've got to go help out at home." His eyes lingered on the blonde for a moment, and a tiny smile made its way onto his face. "Bye, Jill." He walked out quickly, leaving the two girls staring at each-other. Ann seemed to be waiting for something, and after about twenty seconds, she nodded briskly.

"I think he's gone. Come on."

"Where...?" Jill asked, certain that she was missing something important. Receiving an impatient sigh, she shrugged. "I honestly don't know what you're thinking, Ann."

"We're going to go talk to Karen."

"Are you insane?"

"Probably. Come on, we don't have all day. I'm a working woman, and you... should be."

Jill flushed in embarrassment. "I'm a farming failure, okay? I tried."

"I know – which means that you have more time to do things like this, yes? Okay? Okay. They love each-other, and I... I certainly don't have the conscience to watch them break up, when I could potentially be helping them stay together."

"I hate that... thing you do," Jill sighed, scrambling to her feet. "You can make anything sound like a good idea – even when it never, never is."

**xxx**

"How can I help you, ladies?" Jeff asked shyly. Ann grinned at him, attempting friendly but coming across as scary.

"We're here to see Karen," she said casually, walking over to the back door as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The colour drained from Jeff's face.

"That's... probably not a good idea," he began quietly. "I don't think she's fit for visitors at the moment. She had an argument with Rick –"

"Oh my goodness," Ann said softly, pressing one hand to her chest. She glanced behind her. "Jill, apparently Karen and Rick had a fight."

"I already –" she stopped abruptly at the warning scowl on Ann's face. "I already... feel terrible for her."

"I think it's time for a healthy dose of G-T," the redhead said quickly, turning back to Jeff with something like a grimace. He had a pained expression on his face.

"G-T?" he asked quietly. Ann nodded, deadly serious.

"Girl talk." There was an explosive noise behind them, as Jill tried to muffle a fit of uncontrollable giggles. A sharp stomp on her foot quickly made them subside, though she shot Ann a thankless glare.

"R-right, go through," Jeff said immediately, obviously terrified at the notion of being involved in anything related to girl talk. Judging by the look on Jill's face as Ann yanked her through the door, she was terrified too.

"For heaven's sake, Dad," a female voice growled the instant the door closed. "I told you, I'm fine. Just –" she stopped abruptly as she recognized Ann and Jill. "Oh. Let me guess what you're here to talk about."

"We just heard," Ann said in a surprisingly gentle voice, crossing the room and sitting down next to Karen. "How're you holding up?"

She hesitated, before shrugging. "I dunno. It's..." Her eyes narrowed at the blonde near the doorway. "What do you want, Jill?"

"I just wanted to check that you were okay –"

"I'm just peachy," she said, rolling her eyes and biting her lip. "Considering my boyfriend and I just broke up 'cause..." she made a funny choking sound and pressed her palm to her forehead, biting down on her lip hard. Ann hugged her.

"I know you're upset, but don't take it out on Jill. She's trying to help." The pretty brunette glanced at the ground, her cheeks colouring the tiniest bit, before she suddenly pushed to her feet and crossed the room to where Jill was standing. The farmer automatically took a step back, thinking she was going to be slapped – but was shocked as Karen held out her arms and hugged her tightly. Completely astonished, Jill couldn't do anything but awkwardly pat her on the back.

"Us girls have got to stick together, right?" Karen sniffed as she pulled away, her green eyes obviously threatening to overflow with tears. "I just... I want you to know, I don't blame you for this."

Jill raised an eyebrow. "I certainly hope not. What's it got to do with me?"

The brunette shot Ann an incredulous look, before comprehension dawned on her face. "You girls really don't know, do you?" She received two blank stares, and started laughing bitterly. "Goddess. I've been... so _awful_ to you, Jill. The whole time you've been here... because I thought you were... encouraging it."

Ann's mouth dropped open, obviously catching on to something that Jill hadn't. "You're kidding. Did he... tell you so?" Karen nodded grimly, and Ann gasped.

"I feel like I'm in a soap opera," Jill muttered. "Does someone want to fill me in?"

"You must be more modest than you come across," Karen said thoughtfully. The blonde frowned, not quite sure if she'd been insulted or complimented.

"So... you think I had something to do with Rick breaking up with you."

"I know you did," she sighed in reply. "He told me himself."

"I didn't do anything – I don't know what I could have done –"

"He has feelings for you," she interrupted quietly. Her blunt words silenced Jill more effectively than anything else could have.

"W-what?"

Ann was biting her lip and Karen was staring blankly at the opposite wall as Jill tried to comprehend her newly acquired information.

"Karen... don't be ridiculous," Jill finally choked after a long pause. "Rick? Rick doesn't have feelings for me. He's said it himself, I'm like a sister to him –"

"If that's true, then you've got one screwed up, politically incorrect relationship," she scoffed. "God, believe me. I wouldn't lie about this, I can promise you. I'm not telling you a thing that he didn't say himself."

"But –"

"Just let me see her!" a voice begged from outside, cutting Jill off. All three girls turned towards the door, listening. "I just want to explain to her..."

"Oh for heaven's sake," Karen muttered weakly. "I can't deal with this..." she was interrupted by the door swinging open heavily.

"Karen, I – Jill?" Rick asked, looking puzzled, then horrified as his gaze fell on the last girl in the room. "Ann."

"What do you want?" Karen burst out, clenching her fists. Ann and Jill both took a step away from her, the latter blushing and most determinedly avoiding the confused gaze of the boy in front of her.

"I... asked you two not to come here," he finally choked out, the realisation that Jill had almost certainly been told hitting him.

"Why didn't you tell me first?" Jill asked weakly, taking a few steps closer. "Why couldn't you have just... let me know, before you broke up with Karen?"

"Because he's an insensitive jerk," the brunette mumbled from beside her. Ann nudged her sharply, looking reasonably sympathetic towards Rick. After all, the guy was standing between his ex-girlfriend and a girl he now had 'feelings' for, who were both making it perfectly clear that he was being an idiot. Bit of a slap at his self-esteem.

"I'm – sorry," he said in a strangled voice. "I can't help the way I feel..."

"God, guys are so much trouble!" Jill burst out, blinking back the tears shining in her eyes. How? _How _did she manage to keep getting herself into such difficult situations? She wanted to say more, but she knew full well that any attempt at words would result in a garbled muddle. Barely thinking, she pushed past Rick – his face a pained mixture of hurt, embarrassment and confusion – and out the door, desiring to work out her own thoughts before she attempted to deal with anyone else's.

**xxx**


	11. Chapter 11

**xxx**

The night – or rather, morning – was pitch black and freezing cold, as somewhere in the distance, a clock struck 3am. The majority of Mineral Town's residents were sleeping peacefully, comfortable and warm in their beds, blissfully unaware of the turmoil that a certain blonde farmer was going through as she tossed and turned, feelings of guilt and confusion overwhelming her.

Eventually, giving up any slight hope of sleep, she got out of bed and quietly got dressed. As she pulled a warm jacket around her, she shook her hair back and walked out into the darkness, the frost in the air nipping at her exposed face as she trudged blindly through the forest; not following any particular path and only stopping once she found herself at the peak of Mother's Hill.

The fresh air seemed to calm her down a little, spurring her to sit and just gaze out at the beautiful view. Looking at the town, so tiny from where she was sitting, she tried as hard as she could to ignore the reason she was here in the first place.

**xxx**

"Jill?" an incredulous voice asked what seemed like moments – but in all reality, was probably several hours – later. She opened her eyes unwillingly, and nearly had a heart attack to see a familiar face leaning over her. "She's conscious," Gray called out to someone behind him, sounding relieved. "Goddess, what the hell are you _doing_?"

"I… uh…" she pressed her palm to her forehead, trying hard to remember. "Couldn't sleep. I came up here… must have dozed off…" she placed her hands behind her and tried to push herself up from the ground, quickly wincing and slumping back down as a sharp pain rushed through her back, undoubtedly thanks to lying on the cold mountain rock for so long. Gray tentatively touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I – ow," she muttered quietly, sinking back down once more as she attempted getting to her feet. "My back's a little stiff... I'll be fine in a second..."

Gray nodded, glanced up, back down at Jill and did a double take at the scowl on his grandfather's face. "Boy!"

"_What_?" he asked defensively. Did the old man want him to leave her on the top of a freaking _mountain_ without checking if she was okay?

"The girl's obviously in pain. Where are your manners? Offer to carry her!"

"Why the heck don't you carry her," Gray half-whispered, pulling his hat down to hide the uncontrollable blush sweeping over his cheeks. Goddess, his grandfather was obviously _trying _to kill him – either of embarrassment, or thanks to the wrath of the blonde. He could only dread her reaction if he just... picked her up... then again, those tiny fists of hers weren't looking particularly life-threatening.

"It's fine," she insisted, seeing Gray's obvious apprehension. "I'm sorry I made you worry. I really am fine, I swear… look, I…" she tried to muffle the pained gasp that left her lips as she tried to stand up once again, albeit unsuccessfully. The blacksmith's apprentice grimaced, touching her shoulder again.

"J-Jill," he began, closing his eyes briefly.

"Yeah," she said, her own eyes squinted shut in pain.

"Would it be… easier… if I carried you?" he asked, looking as if he would much rather have thrown himself off Mother's Hill than finish that question. Jill shot him a sympathetic smile, thinking his nerves adorable.

"Don't worry. You don't have to," she assured him. "I just need a moment." She attempted to push herself up once more and sank down with a sigh, a mixture of pain and defeat on her face. Gray felt his stomach twist in guilt.

"I'll carry the poor girl if you're not man enough to do it," Saibara barked, shoving his grandson out of the way. Gray shot him the most hateful glare he could muster.

"You can't do that."

"And why not?"

"You're too old," he replied childishly. Jill giggled, holding her arms up as the elderly blacksmith lifted her without trouble.

"Not too old to have the ladies climbing into my arms, am I now?" he asked, with a wink at Jill and a smirk at Gray, who clenched his fists tightly. "There's another thing you could learn from me."

"Give her to me," he said slowly, pulling his cap down and moving closer, his arms outstretched. Saibara took a surprisingly quick step back.

"Missed your chance. You're an idiot for not helping this little lady out in the first place." He smiled at Jill, who was still giggling. "Do you mind if Gray carries you, missy? He seems fairly desperate to do it now… can't have his grandfather stealing his women, you know."

"I'm 'his woman', am I?" she asked curiously, before laughing once more. "I don't mind. If no-one wants to carry me, I'll be okay in a few –"

"Stop saying that," Gray mumbled, lifting her out of Saibara's arms gently enough so she didn't strain her back, but at the same time, as quickly as he could. "You need to get to the clinic." She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he shook his head, cutting her off. "You need to get to the clinic."

"Fine," she exhaled, pouting slightly and attempting to cross her arms over her chest. Gray shook his head at her.

"Don't do that. You'll throw me off balance."

"And we all know that's _so _hard to do," Saibara scoffed. "If you can't handle carrying her, give her back –"

"Shut up," the redhead grumbled, walking off ahead with Jill before his grandfather could demean him any more than he already had. What was that man's _problem_? It was literally like he did everything in his power to make Gray look bad, and it… well, it tended to work a little too well. And in front of _Jill _– he quickly glanced down at the blonde in his arms, then away again. The girl had an uncanny ability to get him flustered just by being present – he didn't need help to blush or feel like an idiot around her; that much he could do by himself. He jostled her a little as he stepped over some loose rocks, and she winced in pain. "Sorry –"

"It's fine," she assured him before he could finish his apology. Her small hand found his, and she squeezed it lightly. "I don't think you realize how much I appreciate this. Tell me if you need me to walk…"

"Don't even think about that," he retorted gruffly. She had to smile.

"Thanks. You're a real gentleman, you know that?"

"That's not the word I'd use for him," Saibara called loudly from behind them. "Give him a pretty girl to carry and sure, he's sunshine and roses. But when it comes to showing his grandfather some courtesy…"

Gray's teeth clenched and the difference in his body language was instantly noticeable to the blonde in his arms. She shot him a look of understanding, squeezing his hand once more, and he calmed down, looking surprised at how quickly Jill had ended his frustration. They had reached the farm by the time this silent exchange took place, and Gray started walking a little faster, eager to be rid of his grandfather.

"See you," he growled behind him when they reached the blacksmith's shop.

"Goodbye, Jill," Saibara said, walking over to the front door and unlocking it. "You tell me if he gets too unbearable, you hear?"

"He won't," she smiled surely, nudging Gray with the elbow that was pressed against him. Obediently – though it was probably more an act of his will than hers, anyway – the redhead walked faster yet again, leaving his critical grandfather well behind. "You handled that well," she mumbled eventually, giving him an approving smile. "I… know how hard it is to be constantly criticized. You deal with it much better than I would have expected you to."

"I can control my temper," he said stiffly. Did he really come across like that to her? Someone who had such big problems managing his anger, he couldn't be trusted to hold his tongue when someone spoke to him disapprovingly? True, he got mad – but not so mad he forgot where he was or _who _he was.

"Gray," she whispered apologetically, successfully reading his face. "That's not what I meant. I'm not patronizing you. I was just saying –"

"Doesn't matter," he said, his voice still not betraying any emotion. Jill fell silent, remaining that way as Manna passed, her eyes wide with the notion of juicy gossip, allowing a weak smile to the rest of the concerned people who asked if she was okay before they reached the clinic. When they finally did, Elli glanced up and nearly fell out of her chair.

"Oh my goodness," she mouthed, before shooting up and into the Doctor's office. He followed her, looking completely impassive next to her concerned face; the only emotion he betrayed was the surprised raising of an eyebrow.

"Can she walk?" he asked, sounding business-like.

"I probably can by now," Jill said quickly, stopping Gray from giving a negative answer. "I… slept in an uncomfortable position and when I woke up, my back hurt. Gray offered to carry me here."

A tiny, unprofessional smirk on his face, Tim shot an also smirking Elli a sideways glance. "So… you woke up this morning in an uncomfortable position… and Gray just happened to be there beside you, is that right?"

Jill nodded, oblivious, at the same time that Gray choked out an embarrassed, "No!" Three pairs of confused eyes turned to him, and he blushed. "Jill slept up on Mother's Hill last night for some Goddess-only-knows reason, and I went hiking up there this morning with my grandfather and found her."

"That's what I said," Jill interrupted, sounding confused.

Elli gave her a sympathetic smile. "No, honey. It's not."

Tim beckoned for Gray to carry Jill into his office, the nurse following behind them closely and still giggling to herself. Once Gray had placed her as gently as possible on the hospital bed, Tim began examining her, 'hmm' ing and 'aah' ing until the poor blacksmith nearly had a heart attack. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's fine," the doctor said seriously. "It's just a muscle contraction – it's going to hurt for a few days, but you should be able to walk just fine, Jill. Try your hardest to refrain from strenuous work on the farm until you're feeling completely well."

"Yeah, I'll try to stop," she exhaled sarcastically. "Tell you the truth, Doctor – that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"See that it isn't," he replied seriously. "You didn't get much sleep last night, obviously – and I'm not even going to venture into why you were on Mother's Hill, of all places. That mountain is very common for high-speed winds – we've lost some of our own up there." A shadow of sadness flitted across his face, before the inexpressive look returned. "You're a lucky girl." Gray blanched at the idea, his face pale until the doctor and nurse had left the room. He sat down in the hard, unwelcoming plastic chair next to Jill's bed.

"Thanks, Gray," she said with a brilliant smile. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"I wasn't going to leave you there, was I?" he asked disbelievingly, shaking his head and pulling his cap down over his eyes. "My grandfather isn't as strong as me, and it's a long way from there to here. Even I had to stop a couple of times, and you hardly weigh a thing. Don't thank me for something I didn't have a choice about." He realized too late how harsh his words had sounded – like he resented the fact that he had to help her out – and bit his lip, waiting for her to be offended. She sighed, a tiny smile on her face as she settled further into the pillows.

"You help me more than you have to," she explained at the look on his face. "You go above and beyond – you're always there for me. You read me that letter from Jack… you're staying here with me now, when you probably can't wait to get home." She hesitated, struggling to find more words to clarify herself. "I like having you around. I meant what I said when you were carrying me – you're a real gentleman. Guys like you are almost impossible to find, these days." She closed her eyes briefly, leaving Gray to ponder her words.

What she'd said… was true and false. True, he would have helped any girl who was in need like Jill was… false, he would have gone so far for anyone. Sitting here beside her in a hospital bed was out of character for him – he'd wait to check that she was okay, sure, and then get going. No waiting around, nothing beyond the immediate responsibility. That was the side of him his grandfather saw – that was the side everyone else saw – and here he was, fooling this poor girl into believing he was some kind of saint.

So why didn't it _feel _like he was fooling her? Because he didn't feel any resentment about being here – he _wanted _to be here. He wanted to stay with her, and make sure she was okay. She seemed so independent, but when he looked closer… it was like she needed someone all the time. She had a gift to draw people to her; one that made them want to protect her and stay by her side. She couldn't take care of herself as much as she wanted to, and he felt… it was up to him to make up for what was lacking.

"Jill?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake her up if she was asleep. Her eyes shot open, and she glanced at him questioningly. "What… what were you doing on Mother's Hill?" She froze, and he held both hands up defensively. "It's none of my business – don't think you have to tell me –"

"I couldn't sleep," she said simply, cutting him off. "I had a… confrontation with Rick and Karen, and I felt guilty about it. I went up to Mother's Hill to think it out, and I must have fallen asleep there."

"Ah," he nodded, biting his lip. He'd heard all too clearly about _that_ particular confrontation – gossip had a habit of traveling exceptionally fast in Mineral Town – but the morning's events had managed to put it well out of his head. He gazed at her, his heart sinking. "You and Rick… I heard you're together. Karen's not happy, huh?"

"What?" she exploded, banging her hands on the bed and pushing herself up, only to wince violently and slump down again. Gray was immediately standing next to her, her tiny hand clasped in his.

"Are you okay?"

"Rick and I aren't together," she gasped, shrugging her shoulders in discomfort at the new pain. "Who told you that?"

"Gramps," he replied, a wave of relief washing over him at her reaction. "I think Doug told him… that Anna told him that Manna told her that Sasha told Manna –"

"Yeah, okay," she sighed. "Dammit. Does everyone think that?"

"Well… judging by _your _reaction, Rick probably doesn't."

"Goddess, I hate gossip like that…" she shook her head, grimacing. "People make up such hideous lies."

"You've come to the wrong place if you don't want to be gossiped about," Gray replied apologetically. "That's basically Manna's employment, here. If you made gossip illegal, for her, you may as well make breathing illegal. It's her life." Jill groaned in reply, closing her eyes again, and Gray's thoughts wandered in a totally different direction. He remembered what he had been thinking before the news of Jill and Rick – the Full Moon Festival was coming up, and Kai wasn't here. Gray had planned on asking the blonde before anyone else could – of course, any thought of that had been shattered alongside the news of her being in an exclusive relationship. But now…

He couldn't do it. The mortification that would follow a rejection would far outweigh the joy that would follow an acceptance… wouldn't it?

"I suppose gossip is all some people have for excitement, right?" Jill mumbled, eyes still closed. "There hasn't been anything going on around here since the Fireworks Festival."

Aw, hell. If that wasn't an opening line to what he wanted to ask, what was? His face bright red, he choked out the first words. "W-well… there's another festival on the thirteenth."

"There is?" she asked, opening one eye curiously.

"Yeah. Uh… it's called the Full Moon Festival. It's… pretty good, I guess. I mean, you can go by yourself but generally people go with a… you know, a d-date."

"That sounds so cute," she beamed, both eyes wide open now. "Who are you taking?"

"No-one," he replied, before immediately correcting himself. "No-one, yet."

"Why not?"

"I… haven't asked anyone," he stuttered, doing an excellent impression of a tomato.

"You don't have to bring a girlfriend though, do you?" she asked, examining his face carefully. "Surely you can just go with a friend… a group of friends, even… it shouldn't have to be a date thing." Her face lit up. "You should take me! I –" she stopped abruptly. "Sorry… if you wanted to, that is. Not pressuring you –"

"Uh, sure," he interrupted, almost speechless at his good luck. Maybe his ears were playing up, but it'd sounded like _Jill _had just asked _him _to the festival. "That sounds okay, I mean. We're… we're friends, right?"

A smile lit up her face and she reached out to squeeze his hand. "You're doing it again. Taking me to this festival, when you'd probably rather take Mary. Don't feel obliged –"

"I want to take you," he said adamantly. "I told you how things stand with Mary." Jill blushed a little, glancing at her hands.

"Thank you."

"You're always thanking me," he grumbled, forcing back the urge to give her a rare smile of his own. "You shouldn't. I told you before, there's no point in thanking me when I'm not doing anything."

"You're making me feel more comfortable," she shrugged. "I'm… a new girl in a new town… I'm by myself, and it's all a little overwhelming. You can't realize how much you help me out, just by _being _here. You're a really good friend, Gray." She settled back once more, closing her eyes. The blacksmith watched her for several minutes, a helpless smile on his face at how _peaceful _she looked in her sleep.

"You're a better friend," he muttered, rising to his feet and hesitantly brushing her blonde hair away from his face before turning to leave.

And he could swear to the Goddess herself, Jill smiled.

**xxx**

"And you're certain you're okay?"

"Rick, I'm _fine_," Jill growled, standing opposite him in the doorway to her farmhouse. It had been three days since she'd stayed in the clinic, and the chicken farmer had come to visit her for each – blaming himself for her minor injury. Of course, he'd always left before the conversation could take a turn into the awkward territory that would no doubt come up sooner or later… today, it seemed that Jill had had enough and that it would be coming 'sooner.' "Stop fussing."

"I can't help it."

"Shouldn't you be spending time with Karen, rather than me?" she asked rather harshly. "I'm not the one you have to repair a relationship with."

He bit his lip, looking taken-aback. "That's not fair, Jill. This isn't something I can help."

"_Rick_," she groaned, shaking her head. "Why?" It wasn't a complete question, but the meaning of it was perfectly clear. Rick hesitated.

"What do you want me to say? I'm confused, okay? Hell, _I _wish I didn't feel like this more than _you _wish I didn't. It's not wrecking a relationship for you. It's not keeping you awake at night." His voice changed, taking on a more gentle tone. "I don't expect you to return the feeling. I… all I'm asking is that you don't hate me because of it."

"Hate you?" she said quietly; incredulously. "Rick, I couldn't hate you if I tried. This is… confronting for me. Awkward, and a little weird. But… I can promise you, I'll never hate you because of it." She giggled, relieved that she could at least laugh about the situation. "Seriously doubt your judgment, yes."

He scowled, crossing his arms defiantly. "I know you don't see yourself _that _inaccurately. "

"I don't have anything Karen doesn't have – except blonde hair and the ability to turn anything farming-related into a catastrophe. And you'd better hope it's not thanks to one of those two things."

He chuckled nervously, surprised at the natural flow of the conversation despite the uncomfortable topic. "You wish. It's more like…"

"Jiiiillll…" a high-pitched female voice called excitedly as Popuri bounced onto the farm. She stopped in her tracks and shot a glare at her brother. "Rick, are you following me? It's not even summer."

"I was here before you were…" he said slowly, looking confused. Flailing her hands, Popuri made an exasperated noise.

"Excuses, excuses. Go! Go!" she shooed him off the property, giving him a warning scowl when he tried to shoot Jill an apologetic smile. Bouncing once again – her energy levels were _unnatural _– she grinned at the confused blonde. "Hi!"

"Hi…?"

"Ann wants to see you, but more importantly, OH MY GOSH!" she raced forward and grabbed both of Jill's hands in her own, squeezing them excitedly. "He's so _cute_, I can't believe it! And can you _imagine _how adorable the kids would be? Oh, promise me, Jill – promise you'll name your first daughter Tarabella-Crystalila. Isn't it the prettiest name you can imagine?"

"Popuri?"

"Yeah?" she asked, apparently unable to stand still as her pink curls flipped from side to side.

"Shut up."

The teenager giggled, shaking her head and bouncing some more. "He's gorgeous, but he's so _angry_. I don't know how you're going to put up with him –"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Jill finally exploded, shaking her head firmly. "Who's gorgeous? Who's angry? Who's given you alcohol?"

"Gray!"

"Why would the idiot give you alcohol?" she pondered out loud. Surely, anyone with half a brain could see that Popuri didn't need it.

"Not alcohol," she sighed, as if Jill was the one who wasn't making sense. "_Gray_. He's gorgeous, and I heard you two are dating!" she clapped her hands together excitedly, ignoring the dumbfounded expression on the farmer's face. "Apparently, Manna saw him carrying you through the street when you were injured… oh, it's so romantic…" her eyes clouded over dreamily and she sighed.

Jill's eye twitched.

"It's… not like that," she managed to choke incredulously a few moments later. Popuri looked disappointed.

"So he wasn't carrying you?"

"Well, he was, but –"

"Aren't you going to the Full Moon Festival with him?"

"Yes, but it's not…" she hesitated, not seeing an easy way out, and gave in with a resigned sigh. "What does Ann want?"

"Oh yeah. Uh… phone call for you. A boy. Long-distance. W-o-w, Gray, of all people. You know, I never really knew much about him; he always seemed too angsty no matter how cute he was… I can't say I –" her voice continued in an inescapable stream of chatter all the way to the inn, though Jill managed to tune out the main part of it. Her shoulders slumped in relief when she caught sight of Ann, chatting on the phone and blushing furiously. The waitress caught sight of her and said a few words into the phone quickly, pausing, giggling in a remarkably un-Ann like manner and holding the receiver out to Jill, taking a few steps back and fanning her red face with her hand.

"Hello?" Jill frowned, wondering who on earth could have obtained such a reaction from the generally unruffled redhead.

"She sounded cute. Put her back on."

Of course.

"Jack," she beamed, refraining from hugging the phone at the sound of her brother's familiar, warm voice. "How'd you get this number?"

"Called the real-estate people that sold you the farm. They told me the only number listed in Vitamin Town was for the local inn."

"Min –" she started to correct him, before reminding herself that it didn't really matter; there were more important things to talk to him about. "I… I miss you like you wouldn't believe."

"I miss you more."

"You can't miss me more," she giggled, catching a glare from Ann out of the corner of her eye. "My brother," she mouthed silently. Looking immediately appeased, the waitress grinned and skipped off to clear some tables. "I only got your… your letter a few days ago…"

"Crap! Are they really that behind there? I sent it… almost the beginning of Summer."

"Ah… yeah," she stuttered, glad he couldn't see her shifty eyes. He'd always known when she was lying. "That's, uh… that's why."

"Don't lie to me."

Dammit. "I didn't realize I had a mailbox," she admitted with a sigh. She could almost hear his smirk on the other end of the phone. "Don't say a word."

There was a long silence, before he spoke up in a voice completely different to what she'd expected. "And… are you… okay? I mean… there was some heavy stuff to deal with in that letter."

Her breath catching in her throat, she unconsciously gripped the bench next to her for support. She was talking to her big brother for the first time in… a long time. This wasn't the direction she wanted their conversation to take. "I'm fine."

"You're lying again."

"Jack… not now," she sighed.

"Goddess… look, I _hate_ the idea of you being there by yourself. Come home."

"No!" she retorted sharply. "I'm not going back. I like it here, and I am _not _coming back to see those –" she cut herself off before she could finish with something she'd regret.

"But…"

"Jack, I miss you as much as you miss me – I'm fairly sure I miss you more. And… well, yeah, it gets lonely sometimes. I've got friends… I've got people that are taking care of me and looking out for me –" she couldn't help but smile as Gray's face came into her head. "– I wish you were here more than anything, but…" she trailed off suddenly, an idea forming in her head.

"Jill?"

"Jack," she said breathlessly, her heart beating quickly. "Jack, you come here!"

"Where?"

"Mineral Town! Live with me! My house… my house is big enough for you to stay as well… and you've always been good with outdoorsy things. You could help me out on the farm…"

"Hey, wait a second. I mean… I'm finished university, and there's not all that much keeping me _here_… but Jill, we'd drive each-other crazy."

"We wouldn't!" she insisted loudly, making Ann and Popuri jump with fright, cluing her in to the fact that they'd been blatantly eavesdropping. "Jack, please. If you really missed me, you would."

There was a long hesitation; knowing her brother as well as she did, Jill was positive that his next sentence would let her know whether or not he was going to give in. "What was that cute girl's name?" he asked, his cheeky grin noticeable even in his voice. Jill squealed in delight, jumping up and down on the spot.

"Oh! You won't regret it, Jack, you won't. You can leave straight away if you don't like it here."

"Hey, who said I was even coming?"

"You can't disappoint me now."

Jack was silent for a good twenty seconds, leaving his sister tapping her fingernails on the bar anxiously. "… Do I need to catch a plane or a ferry?"

"Ferry," she exhaled in relief, her eyes shining. She spoke to her brother for half an hour longer, giving him instructions, addresses and general news – before he insisted that if she wanted him to have the money for the ticket, she needed to hang up before he spent it all on the phone call. The smile plastered on her face when she finally placed the receiver down was more than enough to make Ann raise a questioning eyebrow.

"Care to explain what all _that _was about?"

She flew forward, wrapping her arms around the redhead in an excited whirlwind. "Mineral Town's about to get a lot more interesting."

**xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

**xxx**

"Mary," Jill whined, placing a stack of interior design books down on the librarian's desk. "Please? I've told you everything there is to know – Jack, my brother, is coming to live with me... at least for now. I have... no idea when he's going to show up, except that it's going to be anytime between two days and two weeks. Not long! Gotz is building an extra bedroom at my house as we speak, and Ann's probably bullying him around so much that he'll walk out on the job before I get back. Please, please, _please _let me borrow this book. It's not for me, it's for Ann. She's... well, you know what she's like!"

"Jillian, you know perfectly well that the library closes at four o'clock –"

"Hey, I'm... not trying to aggravate you here," Jill said slowly, obviously apprehensive, "Just... never call me Jillian again, please." She received a perplexed glance from the dark-haired girl.

"Fine, _Jill_," she said, pushing her glasses on firmly. "I'm sorry, but the library is closed –"

"Three minutes ago!"

"Closed is closed," she replied adamantly. Jill gave an aggravated groan.

"Come _on_!"

"You can come back at ten o'clock tomorrow..."

"You're going to set Ann's wrath on me for all those hours between now and then? Look, this book has the potential to keep her out of my hair for the rest of today. That's not a break I get all that often." Mary shook her head, and Jill's attitute changed. "You know," she began casually, propping her elbow up on the desk, "Jack's... he's quite good-looking. If you let me borrow this book, who knows? I could... mention your beauty and intelligence to him..."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Mary groaned, though her face showed signs of weakening. Jill whimpered, forcing tears to spring to her eyes. "Oh for heaven's sake, don't cry... _fine_." She made a move to snatch the book out of Jill's hand, then changed her mind at the last minute and took it gently, flipping the front cover and writing a date on the first page. "Two weeks, Jillian – Jill. I don't take kindly to people who return things late."

"I love you," the blonde murmured reverently, daydreaming about the Ann-free hours that were sure to ensue. "You're my new favourite person."

"Oh, good," she replied with a grimace that plainly said she didn't feel the same way. Sighing, she forced herself to make light conversation. "When is your brother supposed to be arriving, exactly?"

"Next week, sometime. I have this horrible feeling he's going to show up on the thirteenth – he has this uncanny knack for making his own plans over mine."

"You have plans for the festival, then?"

"Just going up to Mother's Hill," she said, shrugging casually. "Gray and I haven't really gone into detail... I think we're just going to meet around six and just go from there. Apparently, there's a gathering in the square, but I don't think..." talking to herself more than the girl opposite her and not even realising that she'd dropped the blacksmith's name, Jill failed to notice the abrupt stricken expression on Mary's pale face. Digging her nails into her hand, the librarian took shallow breaths until Jill's sentence had trailed off. "... Gosh, Mary, you don't look too well. Are you feeling alright?"

"Fine," she insisted, short and sharp. "I should start closing up the library. Of course, I _should _have closed ten minutes ago, so unless you wanted to return that..."

"See you around," Jill called, racing out the door before Mary could claim her book back. Her breathing becoming more rapid and uncontrollable now, the dark-haired girl slumped into the chair behind her and rested her head in her hands, hot tears pricking at her eyes.

It was inescapable. Inevitable. Gray already seemed happier around the blonde farmer than he'd ever been with Mary... but she'd always assumed that the attitude, the antisocial behaviour and the bad temper were a part of his character. Now she was seeing someone completely different... a side of Gray that she, herself, never had a hope of bringing out in him... and Jill had done it in a matter of seasons. So _why _had it come as such a shock to hear that he was taking her to the Full Moon Festival?

That particular festival... it had always been kind of special for her and Gray. Well, special for her at least, Mary thought bitterly. That had been the first time the shy blacksmith had taken her out anywhere; she'd had her first kiss that night. And – her stomach twisted uncomfortably – she was fairly certain that she'd fallen in love that night.

Anyone that expected her to be best friends with a girl like Jill – who had more than just the _potential _to take Gray from her – had another thing coming entirely. She wouldn't fight for him when she couldn't win. But in all her novels, it seemed that the _right_ person won. Blonde hair or black hair; bubbly or mousy; farmer or librarian... the girl most deserving of a happy ending would get the guy.

She could only pray that the deserving one was her.

**xxx**

On the twelfth, Jill exhaled slowly, rolling over in bed to the unmistakeable sound of Ann's knocking at the door. It was some unearthly hour, yet the waitress was obviously more than ready to get started.

Jamming her feet into a white pair of slippers and pulling a dressing-gown around herself, Jill yawned as she shuffled to the door. Pulling it open, she groaned.

Ann stood right up at the door, looking bright and chipper. Her blue eyes were sparkling with excitement, her hair was tied back neatly and her casual clothes clearly highlighted the fact that she was ready to get to work. Behind Ann, and a lot less noticeable, stood Karen – her usually perfect hair tangled around her as she stifled a yawn – Popuri, who was still in pyjamas and appeared to have fallen asleep standing up; and finally a lethargic-looking Elli – who would undoubtedly rather be curled up in bed back at the clinic, but had let her generous nature trick her into being blackmailed by Ann.

"Sorry we couldn't get Mary," the redhead started bubbling instantly, "She refused. We had quite a showdown, actually – I was impressed by how adamant she was. Regardless, you have ME! And... the others." She threw a random gesture to the sleepy trio behind her, before turning back to Jill. "So, have you made up a plan of attack?" She gave Jill all of half a second to process the question, before cutting across. "No? Never mind, I've got one just in case you didn't. Right!" She pointed at Jill quickly. "Get dressed." Turning around, she sighed. "Popuri... why aren't _you_ dressed?"

"You wouldn't let me..." she piped up meekly. "Can I go home?"

"Three minutes," Ann said sharply, clapping her hands together. "Run. I'm counting."

"But..."

"Two minutes fifty six... two minutes fifty five..." she didn't have to say another word; the pink haired teenager flew off like wild dogs were after her. "Karen, I want you to go check out the new bedroom and think about how to rearrange the furniture... Elli, you can help her, if you want." Both girls shuffled languidly past Ann and Jill, and the redhead immediately turned to the blonde once they were out of earshot, her eyes sparkling. "You will never, ever, guess what. Not in a million years."

"You wanna make it easier for me?" she yawned.

"I have a date!" She clamped both hands over her mouth, realising just how loud she'd said it. It was too late – Karen and Elli were both immediately at the door, looking surprisingly awake all of a sudden.

"With _who_?" Karen exclaimed, grabbing her wrist.

"Don't! Don't crowd me! There was a reason I was trying to tell Jill quietly!"

"And that was...?"

"Because I knew that _you_ would react like _this_!"

The brunette looked like she was going to protest for a second, then thought about Ann's response and shrugged. "Whatever. Goddess, tell me it's with Cliff!" Ann hesitantly nodded, and Karen screamed at the top of her lungs, tackling the waitress to the ground. "Congratulations, Annie! I told you, I _told _you!"

"It's just the Full Moon Festival," Ann choked in a voice that was probably strained due to how firmly Karen's arms were thrown around her neck. "For heaven's sake, let _go_."

"HAVE YOU DECIDED WHAT YOU'RE WEARING?" Karen roared suddenly. Ann blanched, dreading the answer that she would have to give.

"M-my overalls?"

Wrong answer.

"Overalls? For the love of... Ann, is this your first date... ever?"

"Yes," she admitted meekly.

"Well... that explains it, but still... overalls..." she shook her head slowly. "Actually, you're _not _wearing overalls. We'll raid my wardrobe, okay? Jill, you have... no clothes, so we'll pick some out for you as well." The blonde frowned, but Karen rushed ahead. "You know what? Let's go right now! No time like the present, huh?"

"Stop," Ann said simply. All three girls obeyed, slowly turning to face the waitress. "We are _not _doing anything of the sort. Not today. Don't you girls understand?" She placed one hand over her heart dramatically, striking a decidedly saint-like pose. All she needed was some heart-wrenching background music. "We are here today... _not _to discuss selfish things, like clothes and dates! Guys... we came to help a friend in need." Elli hung her head meekly; Karen was rolling her eyes while Jill smiled. "A friend in need," Ann repeated seriously, before a grin flashed across her face. "Who can talk us up to her hot brother."

"Heck yeah," Karen laughed, running across to high five Ann. Jill's face snapped into a reluctantly amused scowl. "Come on!" Karen said quickly, clapping her hands together loudly. "We've got work to do! I –" her voice faltered under Ann's threatening glare, and she quickly surrendered her position of leadership. "Sorry, Ann."

The redhead nodded sharply, before jamming her fingers into her mouth and giving a piercing whistle. "POPURI!" she yelled, her voice undoubtedly loud enough to reach the Poultry Farm, "YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS." Almost on cue, the pink-haired maiden hopped through the farm gate, still pulling on her socks.

"Was she counting that whole time?" the nurse murmured to Karen, who nodded grimly.

"You two, stop chatting," the waitress interrupted dangerously. Similar to a drill sergeant, she swept through the girls and allocated jobs quickly and efficiently – the majority of them going to herself, of course. "Now, are you ready to _work_?"

"It's just some spring cleaning, Ann," Jill said incredulously. "It's not that big a deal."

A tiny smirk playing on her features, Ann raised one eyebrow at the blonde. "Then you've obviously never spring-cleaned my way."

**Six hours later...**

"I give up," Jill moaned, slumping to the floor. "I give up... it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Goddess, everything _hurts_." Her hand moved to her aching head, making her wince as her arm muscles protested the movement.

"Get up," Ann ordered with no trace of humour in her voice. "Would you quit being such a blonde city slicker?"

"City slicker," she snorted in disbelief. "Look at Elli; and as far as I know, _she's _lived here her whole life." Their eyes travelled to where the nurse was lying, curled up in one corner of the room, fast asleep. Their attention was pulled away, however, as Popuri drifted past them in a zombie-like trance.

"The flowers," she was mumbling almost incoherantly, "The pretty flowers. Pretty... on the desk, on the table. Flowers... flowers..." her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper and her face paled significantly. "No more... no more pretty flowers..."

"You're _good _at arranging flowers," Ann insisted, a note of false cheerfulness in her voice. "That's why I gave you that job, Poppy. You're better at it than anyone else!"

"_No-one _is good at arranging flowers for six hours straight," Jill hissed. "We need a break – and does anyone even _know _where Karen is?"

"You girls are quitters," Ann scoffed airily. "You're just slowing me down. If I could do it myself, I'd be well and truly finished by now. You know what? Leave. Just go."

"It's my house –"

"Be back in half an hour, and this'll be done. I swear." Jill glanced around the room, looking ten times worse than it had when they'd started, and raised a disbelieving eyebrow. But if it gave her an excuse to finally take a break, she wasn't complaining.

"Fine. I'll go to the inn and be back then. I'll wake up Elli –" she glanced over to the corner where she had been lying just moments before and did a double-take. "Where did she go? Popuri, did you see where –" she cut herself off abruptly as she realised that Popuri had already left as well.

"If you really want to stay and help," Ann began, "You can –" she didn't get the chance to finish her sentence before Jill's legs were carrying her out of the house as quickly as they possibly could.

"Ann's deluding herself," Jill said cheerfully as she walked back to the farmhouse with Elli, Karen and Popuri. "I know she's trying to help... I know her intentions are good, but no amount of willpower –"

"She's a control freak," Karen cut in, saying what Jill had been getting at plainly. "I love her – I mean, we all love her most of the time. It's just when she gets into a situation where she has the chance to organize us... boss us around... woe for any person who challenges that. She likes to prove herself right, basically. I'm willing to bet that the house will be finished by the time we get back."

"Twenty minutes, we've been gone. Twenty minutes," Jill scoffed. "Did you even _see _the state the house was in when we left it? Not even Ann could manage that. I'm willing to bet a _lot _of money."

"And I'm willing to take a lot of money," Karen smiled. "You'll see."

Making a noise that clearly showed her disagreement, Jill simply crossed her arms over her chest. It was ridiculous for Karen to even suggest that Ann could single-handedly pull off a job like that in any less than a whole day, let alone the few minutes that had passed since –

"Told you so. Pay up."

The blonde threw a questioning glance at Karen, before glancing towards the farmhouse in front of her. Her jaw promptly dropped open and she spluttered indignantly, shaking her head in protest. "No – I – what – how?" She half expected to see cartoon sparkles pop up; highlighting how unnaturally neat her house now was. And, as if to add insult to injury, Ann skipped up beaming and not looking the slightest bit worn out by her cleaning.

"Well, that was fun," the redhead sighed. "You girls really missed out. Have you got anything else for me to clean, Jill?" She received four unblinking stares in reply, and bit her lip. "What? What's wrong?"

"You're weird," Popuri said in a bubbly voice. "You love cleaning, but I hate it."

The smile snapped off Ann's face dramatically and a growl sounded in her throat – even Popuri could see that she was in trouble. She backed up towards the gate, her pink hair swishing behind her – before she took off as quickly as she could, more than a little afraid of the waitress's furious expression. Seeing that Popuri was making a run for it, Ann launched herself after her, leaving the three remaining girls glancing at each-other in bewilderment.

"Popuri should have known not to insult cleaning in front of Ann," Elli eventually sighed. "I'd better go see if I can calm her down."

"I'll see if I can somehow save Popuri," Karen added. She smiled at Jill. "Hope we helped you some. Or Ann did, at least." Elli set off out the gate with Karen following close behind – leaving Jill, _finally_, alone.

Hopefully to get some much needed rest.

**xxx**

"Jill?" Ann's voice echoed from outside the front door; a very unwelcome interruption to the would-be-farmer's sleep. "You there?"

Not moving from her position curled up on top of her bed, Jill was silent for a few moments before calling out in a muffled voice, "No, I'm not."

"Open the door Jill."

Silence.

"I said open the door! Can you hear me?"

Silence.

"Jill Evans, I swear to the Goddess herself that if you don't open the door this _second_, I'm going to make you re-arrange the whole house with me all over again. Now that I think about it, I don't like the position of the bookshelf and –" Within seconds the door was thrown open, Jill's hair tangled and eyes wild with fear at the notion of helping Ann clean ever again.

"As tempting as that sounds," she managed to choke, the horrified expression on her face clearly stating that her thoughts were otherwise, "I... don't think it's necessary. I – I mean, it was just for Jack, right? And he'll be here any day now. The house really is fine as it is."

"_Just_ for Jack?" a slightly amused and ridiculously familiar voice said from the side of the house. In the next instant Jill had launched herself straight out the door, pouncing on her brother and kissing his cheek so enthusiastically that they both toppled over; resulting in the bags that Jack had brought with him following the pair's unceremonious decent to the ground. Jill was squealing incomprehensibly while Jack covered his ears and Ann smirked at the two. When he finally pushed himself to his feet and pulled Jill to hers, the blonde stepped back and scrutinized him carefully.

He was tall; that much she'd already known. Almost as tall as Gray or the doctor. Nothing had changed in his dark brown hair that fell carelessly over his forehead, or his eyes of the same color. But the most familiar thing was the cheeky grin on his face, proving that he was about to say something to tease her.

"I know, I know. I'm still too attractive for my own good."

"Amen," a mostly forgotten Ann murmured from behind them as she stared at Jack in adoration. He turned and winked at her, making her blush, giggle uncharacteristically and take a sudden – very strong – interest in staring at her feet.

"Ann?" Jill said politely, a forced smile on her face – after the day's cleaning, it was going to be a _long _time before she could look at the waitress without fear in her eyes – "I'd really... really love to catch up with my brother."

"Yeah, me too," she mumbled, apparently still entranced. It took a whole lot of throat-clearing on Jill's part to make Ann finally take the hint, and – though not without her fair share of sulking – she eventually left, sneaking glances over her shoulder as she went. "Uh, Jack?" she threw in before she actually left, "I'll see you around, okay? If you need any help, anything at all, you can come to me. Meet me at the inn sometime – Dad and I can treat you with lunch, and I'll give you a tour of the town."

"Thank you," he replied, flashing a smile in her direction. "I might take you up on that." Looking dangerously close to fainting, Ann finally left for good.

"Goddess," Jill announced as her brother swept her up and span her in a circle, "I've missed you so much! You've got no idea –"

"I missed you more. So I think I might have some idea, actually," he grinned as he set her back down. "Man, that girl was cute, wasn't she?"

"So help me, if you start hitting on these innocent girls –"

"So, um, happy birthday," he coughed. His avoidance techniques were obviously second to none; Jill's face lit up in absolute delight. "How was your party?"

"You remembered! Uh, no party this year... turning twenty isn't a big deal; I'll just have one next year. Um... you want me to show you where your room is?"

"Yeah, I'm not so tempted to sleep outside tonight," he replied, inclining his head towards the overcast sky. "But I've gotta say, that house doesn't look big enough for two bedrooms. Heck, it doesn't look big enough to be a _house_. No wonder you could afford it."

"Hey, it's... cozy," she said in defense of a house that she had pronounced 'officially crap' only a few seasons before. "Although you're kind of right about the bedroom thing... um, you have your own bedroom, but my bed is pushed into a corner of the main area."

Obviously under the impression that Jill was joking, Jack laughed, rummaging through his smallest bag for something. "Here, uh... I didn't have the chance to get you a proper birthday present... but I'm hoping you'll agree that it's the thought that counts, right?" His hopeful expression could melt even his sister's heart, and she took the brown paper bag that he was holding out to her.

"Oh, it's..." she hesitated, her forehead crinkling in confusion. "Hair-dye. Ah... awesome?"

"You think?" her brother grinned, looking pleased with himself. "The woman in the store said that if you didn't want to change your color, it would 'rejuvenate, condition and freshen', so I bought it because I assumed that... living on a farm, you wouldn't be taking such good care of your hair. I bought myself one too," he added as a cheerful afterthought.

"I've mastered the art of the self haircut," she bit back. "But thanks... I'm going out tomorrow night, so this'll be nice. And you're right – it's the thought that counts, I guess. So... come in. Leave your bags at the front door and you can unpack them later." The siblings walked into the house, and Jill began the tour. "My bed," she gestured to the single bed pressed up against the panelled wall, smirking in amusement at Jack's shocked face. "Table, chair, kitchen, bathroom is through there, bookshelf, fireplace, television... your room. That's all."

"What the heck do you do for fun? And why didn't you tell me about this _before _I came all the way out?"

"Don't be a sook," the blonde laughed. "I guess I talk to people for fun – I don't spend all that much time in the house. This place... it's very social. Everyone knows everyone, and your secrets are most definitely _not _safe." Seeing the way Jack's mouth twisted nervously, she sighed and said the one thing that she knew would get through to him. "And... there's a bunch of girls my age... I'll just say that Ann's looks aren't an exception in this place."

"I love it here," he announced promptly, dragging his luggage across the room and up to the doorway to his room. "I'll get unpacked, then."

"Go for it. I'll put in the hair-dye."

"You want me to help you with that?" he offered slowly, "You know that you can get pretty absent-minded at times. If you want to wait twenty minutes, I can come and help –"

"Jack," she scoffed, "I _think _I can manage to put dye in my own hair. It's the same color, anyway! What could possibly go wrong?"

**xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

**xxx**

"JACK!" the single syllable echoed ominously through the small house, sending an impending sense of certain doom to Jack himself. The distant sound of running water stopped, the scream coming from the direction of the bathroom. "Jack Evans, if you have _any _sense of what's good for you, GET HERE THIS MINUTE."

The dark haired boy quickly abandoned the highly entertaining task of filling his sock drawer and ran out, stopping short in the kitchen as Jill stormed out of the bathroom, a blue towel wrapped around her head. "What, Jill? You scared me! I thought something was wrong –"

"Oh, really?" she asked, her voice unnaturally high-pitched. "I scared you? You thought something was wrong, did you? You_ damn well _better believe something's _wrong_! Tell me, Jack, _what _was this hair dye meant to do exactly?"

"Rejuvenate, condition and freshen your hair color," he rattled off, looking like he was a schoolboy who had answered a particularly difficult math problem. But the beam faded with the realisation that he definitely was not about to be rewarded. "... Why?"

With a murderous glare, Jill yanked on the towel and stamped an angry foot as chocolate brown locks tumbled down. Jack winced. "Ah... hmm."

"I'm going to kill you!" the new brunette yelled, beginning to hyperventilate.

"N-now come on, it suits you! You look good as a brunette, uh... crap. You must have used the one I bought for myself – I _told _you to wait for me to help you, Jill, I..." he trailed off as his sister's face turned an intriguing shade of purple. "Here," he said quickly, racing into the bathroom and grabbing the paper bag the hair dye had come in. "Breathe into this. Don't worry, it'll grow out."

"Yeah," she growled, batting the paper bag away impatiently as he continued to offer it to her. "You know, you're right." She seemed to have calmed down slightly and Jack breathed a sigh of relief, before her voice picked up in volume again. "And then, when it grows out, I'll be a brunette with PLATINUM BLONDE RE-GROWTH!" Wincing, Jack started to back away. "Dammit, I have to go out with Gray tomorrow... we'd better put in the blonde hair dye, and then never tell anyone a word about this. Yes?"

"Uh, Jill..." Jack said fearfully, reading the back of a packet, "It says here that you must wait at least a week between packs, or... extreme hair loss... may result." He looked up to see his sister's eye twitching. "C'mon, you look really pretty with brown hair. And it's only for a week! Now... I'll just make you a cup of tea and you can – wait a second, who's this... Gray? Are you going on a _date, _Jill?"

"It's not a date, he's... he's a good friend and we're going to a festival together," she snarled, storming over to a mirror. "Not that it's any of _your _Goddess-damn business. Oh my –" she nearly fainted and twirled away from the mirror as quickly as she could. "I have platinum eyebrows. I have platinum eyebrows. I have platinum eyebrows. How do you plan on rectifying _that_?"

"Err... brown eyeliner? Just draw over your eyebrows? I don't know Jill, stop getting so angry. You should have read the package in the first place." At the dangerous way she raised an eyebrow, Jack abruptly changed his mind. "Um, I mean... this is all my fault. In no way, shape or form are you responsible, and I hope you realise that."

"Don't suck up to me," she groaned, though a tiny smile was playing on her lips despite herself. "Jack... you do realise that living together, is going to be hell?"

"Jill," he smiled. "I realised that before I even came."

"Then why _did _you come?" she asked curiously, tilting her head slightly. Her brother smirked, shrugging his shoulders and taking a few steps away from her.

"I didn't mean hell for _me_."

**xxx**

By five o'clock the next afternoon, Jill was well and truly past the point of 'nervous'. Sure, it wasn't a date – and she was sure Gray wouldn't mind if her makeup wasn't perfect, or her hair wasn't –

Ugh. You know what? She wasn't even going to think about the hair. Why should it make a difference if she was a brunette or a blonde? It didn't make a difference. In fact, it made so _slight _a difference, Gray probably wouldn't even notice.

...

...

...

Yeah, right.

Jack was alternating between watching a farming documentary – on a television which, to his horror, had _four _stations – and watching Jill pace anxiously, occasionally fiddling with her bracelet or smoothing her black dress, all the while doing her best not to sneak glances at her hair in the mirror on the wall.

As her brother for the twenty years of her life, seeing her like this was... interesting, to say the least. As far as he could recall, it had been a long time since he'd seen her this nervous... of course, she'd been quite comfortable around her last scum of a boyfriend – and no matter what Jill was protesting... '_Jack! We're just friends!_' ... he was pretty certain that there was something else going on, even if she didn't want to admit to it. There was _something _special about this guy. So when he heard the knock on the door a good amount of time later, he stood up in curiosity and walked over to it.

Taking a deep breath, Gray waited anxiously outside the door of Jill's small farm house. _Maybe she's forgotten,_ he thought negatively._ What if she's changed her mind and gone with someone else? _It was definitely a possibility._ What if..._ he nearly toppled over as the door was pulled open by a brown haired man that Gray didn't recognise. _What if some random guy opens her door? _

"Hey," Jack said, smiling. "You must be Gray. I'm Jack, Jill's brother." An awkward silence followed, before Jack tacked on, "I've come to live with her. She's, uh... getting ready, I think." He leaned against the doorframe, surveying the blacksmith carefully. Well, he didn't resemble an axe murderer _too _much, in a blue cap, dark jeans and a black jacket over a crisp white shirt. In fact... "You look kind of familiar."

"Really," Gray said in a monotone. "I don't think so." Jack raised an eyebrow and shrugged, turning away and walking into the house to check on his sister.

"What are you doing?" he asked, seeing her – completely ready – standing by the kitchen and wringing her hands together.

"I'm just... give me a minute," she replied, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. Jack leaned beside her nonchalantly.

"He's not the most pleasant guy I've ever met, Jill,"

"Oh – he's really shy," she said quickly. "Did he cut you off after you said something?" Jack nodded and Jill smiled. "Yeah, he's nervous."

"Sounds like you know him pretty well," Jack hinted; unfortunately his sister didn't pick up on his hints. She exhaled one last time and ran one hand through her long _brown_ hair, and walked towards the door with more confidence than her earlier actions would suggest.

"Hey you," she said softly, biting her lip as Gray stared at her. "Sorry, I was... finishing makeup."

"What time are you gonna have her home by?" Jack asked, standing in the doorframe again but switching into defensive big-brother mode. Jill shot him an incredulous glare, grabbing Gray's arm and starting to lead him away.

"As late as Iwant to be home!" she shot over her shoulder, teeth gritted in embarrassment. "My Goddess... I'm sorry," she mumbled, her eyes flickering to meet Gray's as she quickly realised she was still holding his arm, and let go. "Jack... he's..."

"He's an older brother," Gray shrugged. "I get it. I'd... do the same." In what may have been the most obvious subject change in history, he glanced at Jill again. "You, uh... you look..."

"Hmm?" she said with a small smile, waiting on the cliché line, _You look nice tonight_.

"You look... well, what the hell did you do to your hair?"

... Okay, not quite what she was expecting. Her hand flew up to her dark locks mechanically and she couldn't bite back the full, amused smile that crept across her face. Glancing up, she saw that the exact same expression was mirrored on Gray's features, and seeing him look like that made her heart skip. Was it the first time she'd seen him smile properly?

"We're going to be late," he reminded her gently. "It's a long walk – but we don't have to rush, if you... can't in those shoes." Another smile as he inclined his head towards her black high-heels. "It won't matter if we're a little late."

"I'll be okay," she retorted. "I've travelled further and faster in much higher shoes. I'm just... a little out of practice, after three seasons of overalls and workboots."

A shadow cast across the blacksmith's face and he frowned, making Jill blink at him in concern. "Three seasons," he repeated slowly. "That's all?" They walked in silence for what would have been seconds, but felt like so much longer for both. "It feels like... I've known you forever."

Mascara-covered eyes peered at him, closing for the briefest second. "Same. We're... yeah." Gray was watching her closely and she giggled, her cheeks coloring. "I don't know what I'm saying. I started to say something – and now I don't even know what it was."

"S'okay," he murmured, watching her with amusement still plain on his face. Amusement – and affection, in some weird way. A completely unfamiliar, protective streak. The enraged feeling of wanting to tear Jack to pieces when he'd opened Jill's door – before he'd divulged that he was Jill's brother, of course. Even watching Jill talk to Rick, or smile at Cliff – it all envoked that same, unexplainable irritation. And _irritation_ was putting it very, very mildly.

"My Goddess," she whispered suddenly, once they'd reached the top of Mother's Hill. "Look at that." Directly ahead of them was a gleaming white sphere, so large and seemingly so close, you could swear that you could touch it if you just reached out far enough. "I've... never seen anything like that, in my whole life."

"It's the same every year," Gray told her, his eyes focussed on the moon. "It never gets any less beautiful, though."

Jill smiled vaguely and let her eyes travel the area that she'd previously neglected for the immediate view. When she did take note, she saw Tim sitting with Elli's head on his chest, watching the sky, while a short distance away from them, Ann and Cliff were sitting a good half metre away from each other, obviously wracking their brains for some conversation. Anna and Basil were on the other side of the area, deep in conversation and throwing glances in Gray's direction, while Manna and Duke were arguing over something as usual. The rest of Mineral Town... were probably at the square.

"It _is _kind of... couple-y," the brunette observed after a slight pause. "Popuri was right..." glancing to the side, she smirked. "Well, that's not a statement I make all that often. You want to sit down over there?" Her hand gestured to the one place on the mountain separated from all four other couples, and Gray raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

When they were sitting down – and had been for quite some time – Jill, in true form, grew uncomfortable with the silence. "Do you remember the best thing that ever happened to you?" she asked suddenly, receiving a sharp, confused glance. Blushing, she started to explain herself. "Like, I'm just wondering... did you ever have one of those life-changing things? Where something happens... and you just know, nothing's going to be the same. What I got when I was on the ferry to Mineral Town."

"I can't think of anything good," he said shortly. "I don't think anything good comes from a drastic change. Obviously I'm wrong, if it did for you, but... that's just my personal experience."

"Okay," she mumbled, seeing from his steely, straight-ahead gaze that it was a topic not open for discussion. After another long pause, she steered onto what she hoped was a safer topic of conversation. "Tell me about your family. You have a little sister, right?"

He stiffened, his jaw becoming rigid and eyes becoming cold. "I didn't say that."

"Oh," Jill apologized immediately, "I'm sorry, I... I just thought... I was telling you about Jack being protective, and you said that you would do the same, so I assumed that you – I'm sorry, I –"

"Don't," he snapped, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes. "Don't apologize. You're right, I... do have a little sister. She's just not around anymore." He coughed slightly. "My family aren't around anymore."

"Don't you talk to them?"

He almost laughed. "No. No, I don't talk to them." He watched Jill, so naïve, _praying _that she wouldn't ask him any more questions. He'd answer them, sure – far be it for him to keep anything from a girl like her – but for her own sake... he could only imagine how guilty she would feel if she felt like she'd pressured him into telling her about it.

"Why not?"

Inwardly cringing, Gray met her curious gaze. "They died," he said shortly, watching the blue in her eyes darken as curiosity turned to horror.

"Oh my Goddess," she murmured, clapping both hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I... I can't say anything to excuse myself for that. I just – I didn't know –"

"Of course you didn't," he said, waving his hand as if that would wave away her guilty conscience. "It was a car crash, a long time ago. No big tragedy... nothing special. Just... bad luck, I guess. For them –_ I'm_ alive, so I guess that's lucky enough in itself. There's no use whining about things that happened fifteen years ago. I was a kid – do I even remember it? Not really."

"But no kid should have to cope with that –"

"But some kids have to cope with worse than that," he pressed, something almost... urgent in his tone. "A car crash isn't the worst thing that could happen; not by a long shot. And if it was, there's kids who would have to go into foster homes. I even had my grandfather, so... there's nothing more to say about it. It's all in the past; I'm over it."

Even knowing that he was lying, Jill wasn't about to push him any further than she already had – too far. "Okay. Sorry."

"You say sorry again and I'll push you off the mountain," he joked, rolling his eyes in an effort to lighten the mood. "Lets not talk about it anymore, okay?" And despite the best efforts of both to maintain a conversation, they eventually lapsed into a silence – not a comfortable silence, but not agonizingly awkward, either. They didn't _need _to speak until the moon slowly started to disappear, and Jill glanced around to realise with a start that no other couples remained with them.

"Gray, what time is it?"

"Hmm?" he asked vaguely, frowning at Jill before checking his watch. His eyebrows flew up. "Holy... come on." He immediately pushed to his feet and extended a hand to take Jill's much smaller one. He pulled her to her feet easily, shrugging his jacket off and handing it to her without a word as he noticed slight goosebumps up her exposed arms. She didn't even try to protest, taking it with a thankful smile as he offered his hand again to help her down the tricky parts of the mountain.

"_This_ is going to be fun," Jill yawned, rolling her eyes at the sight of the farmhouse fully lit up, Jack's outline clear in a window. "Jeez, the second day he's living here, and I have a curfew." She turned to shoot a smile at Gray. "I... actually did have a great time. Obviously, or I wouldn't have lost track of time until..." she trailed off, realising that he'd never told her the actual time.

"Four in the morning," he offered, making her eyes widen in disbelief. "You've got to get some sleep. Have a nice lie-in for me tomorrow, when I'm up at seven to go to work."

"Will do," she replied instantly. She glanced down, fiddling with the hem of the large jacket she was wearing. "Oh, um... this is yours –"

"Keep it for now," he shrugged. "I won't need it for awhile."

"Ah... okay. Well..."

"I _think _I've been waiting long enough for you two to say your goodbyes," Jack growled, pushing open the front door loudly. He was still in his day clothes and looked like a good night's sleep would be the most welcome thing for him at that time. "Jill, go to bed. Gray... go to bed separately."

"Have I told you lately that I hate you?" Jill asked, storming past him with one last smile in Gray's direction. "Thanks for a fun night."

"And a fun morning," Jack added, nodding to the blacksmith before closing the door. "Jill, I'll deal with you in the morning."

"Yes Dad," she groaned, rising onto her tiptoes to kiss her brother's cheek. "Don't be a spoilsport. We just lost track of time; not that it's any concern of yours – and I should actually be more than a little annoyed with you for waiting up."

"I don't like you being out at all hours with boys that I don't know –"

"We're just _friends_, for the fifty seventh hundredth millionth billionth time." She headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth, leaving Jack to roll his eyes and press one hand to his temple.

"Maybe this'll turn out to be my version of hell, too."

**xxx**


	14. Chapter 14

**xxx**

"_Gotcha, Jill! You're it!" a small girl yelled out to her friend in a sing-song voice. "Try and catch meee... bet you can't!"_

_Jill pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as her bottom lip started to quiver. "You did _not _tag me. I was talking to your brother, which means that I was out of bounds, so I'm _not _it!"_

"_Are too!"_

"_M-MOM!" Jill yelled, her eyes filling up with a four-year-old's easy tears. "Kate's being unfair! She said she tagged me, but she didn't and I –"_

_A blonde woman holding a red-haired toddler scowled. "Be quiet, Jillian! You'll wake up Veronica and I just got her to sleep! Would you stop being so inconsiderate?"_

_Tears started to spill over as Jill stomped one foot and rushed over to stand in a corner, arms folded over her chest in annoyance. Someone shifted to stand behind her nervously, and she glared at the ground beneath her feet._

"_Kate, I'm not it," she sulked petulantly. "You're a cheater." A longer silence followed, and out of eventual curiosity, the tiny blonde turned around._

"_Don't cry," a little boy said quietly, half-smiling at her. "My sister says that she'll be 'it' if you come back and play. And, um... she's sorry for making you mad." He paused, shuffling his feet slightly. "Are you coming?"_

"_Okay," Jill said brightly, all memory of tears forgotten. He gave her another half-smile and turned around, walking to where a dark-haired boy and a worried-looking Kate were standing._

"_Ooh, you two LOVE each-other," the dark-haired boy teased. Pouting again, Jill hit him._

"_We do not, Jack! Just 'cause he's nice, not like you –"_

"_Right," a firm, deep voice growled, making all four children jump. A tall, handsome man grabbed the arms of both Jack and Jill. "I've had enough of your arguing. You obviously can't behave yourselves in company, so we're going home. Linda?"_

"_Aw, Dad," Jack pleaded. "We'll be good."_

"_If you were planning on being good at all, you would have shown it an hour ago."_

_Linda was already on her feet, clutching baby Veronica in her arms. She walked over to a tired-looking and thirty-something brunette, kissing her on the cheek. "Sorry we have to leave so soon, Sharon," she said regretfully. "Jack and Jill are getting snippy with each-other, and I should get Veronica to bed."_

"_That's okay," Sharon replied instantly, giving the Evans family a gentle smile. "You know that you're all welcome here anytime – God knows I enjoy the company, what with Daniel... you know."_

_Jill's mother smiled, a shade of sadness on her pretty face. "I know. You bring the kids over to ours if you get the least bit lonely... or, if you need any help." There was a look of understanding exchanged, then changing her tone, Linda turned around. "Jack! Jill! In the car!"_

**xxx**

Jill woke up with an uncomfortable, sudden start, puzzling over her dream. She knew that it – or at the very least, some part of it – was based on a real memory, rather than her imagination. But for the life of her she couldn't place the young boy's name; in all honesty she could hardly know whether or not 'Kate' was really the girl's name! With a tired shrug she rolled over to see that it was after midday, according to her clock. And no matter how reluctant she was, eventually she'd have to get out of bed – so letting her thoughts travel to poor Gray, who would have had about three hours of sleep compared to her eight or so hours, she pushed herself up.

Quietly crossing the area to Jack's room, she smirked a little to see him fast asleep. He'd always been an early riser, actually – and she felt the tiniest twinge of guilt for keeping him up so late last night. Her guilt was quickly eliminated with the thought that he hadn't been required to stay up, and grinning widely, she walked over to kneel beside his bed.

"Jack?" she said brightly, springing to her feet and sounding more cheerful than she was _just _to annoy him. There was nothing worse than a freakishly happy person when you'd just woken up. "Jack, wake up!" He muffled a groan as he rolled over, grabbing his pillow from behind him and smothering it over his own head to drown out Jill's voice. "JACK. WAKE –"

"Okay!" he snapped, throwing the pillow and smacking his sister right in the face with it. She threw it back indignantly and poked her tongue out, a tiny smirk on her face.

"Come on, it's for your own good. You _know_ it's not healthy to sleep in for ages."

"What time is it," he mumbled disinterestedly.

"Twelve thirty."

"What?" Jack jumped out of bed immediately, his whole attitude changing. "Heck, what's going on? I don't sleep this late. And since _when _have you woken up before me?"

"Please – you had a long trip yesterday, then you stayed up until all hours of the morning. Midday is hardly a sleep-in, anyway." She rolled her eyes as Jack waved her out so he could get dressed. "I can see when I'm not wanted. Breakfast?"

"Oh no," he said quickly, following her into the kitchen and pulling a shirt on simultaneously. "Oh no. I haven't seen you for awhile Jill, but my memory is good enough to recall that you were the _only _student who managed to fail Food Tech three times." His gaze suddenly dropped to the floor, and he shook his head. "I think we all remember your practical exam. Poor Mrs. Howard was never quite the same."

"It was only a small fire," Jill protested instantly. "It could have happened to anyone."

"You were making a salad!"

"Shh," she said, cutting him off with an impatient glare. "It's all in the past – but if you're so eager, fine. You make breakfast."

"I will," he challenged, storming over to the fridge and pulling it open. He froze on the spot. "What are you, a bachelor? You have muffin mix, a spinach and... curry powder, by the looks of it. Where's all your food?"

"I'll have you know that curry-spinach muffins are both delicious _and_ nutritious," she countered, forcing Jack to scowl at her. She smiled, shortly becoming serious. "... I did have some food," she puzzled. "At least, I think I did. I've been eating at the inn a lot, actually – the food there is healthy and cheap; besides, this house seems kinda flammable. Those salads are killers." Jack glowered at her and she shrugged. "Oh well. I guess it's the inn for breakfast this morning!"

"Hmm. I'll get ready," he eventually sighed, turning back and walking into his bedroom.

"Hurry, I'm starving," Jill called. She threw her tangled dark hair into a ponytail, pulled a not too flash t-shirt over her jeans and made sure that all the previous night's makeup was off her face, then sat down and waited for Jack.

**xxx**

When he'd taken _more _than a decent amount of time to get ready, the siblings were finally out of the house and heading up the street towards the inn. Jack's eyebrows were raised as he took in the old-fashioned houses and cobblestone paths – it was like he'd fallen smack bang into the middle of a fairytale. They were passing a winery, and he could only assume that the mid-sized building ahead was the 'inn' Jill kept referring to.

"Hey Jack," Ann said instantly upon seeing the pair walk through the door. Jill gave her an evil glare which she failed to notice, completely absorbed by something else. "My Goddess – Jill, your hair! Did you realize it was a different color?"

" No, Ann, I had _no _idea." Rubbing the bridge of her nose impatiently, she glanced back up at the waitress. "It was an accident – involving hair dye – and it is not open for discussion. And I'll make it perfectly clear _this _time that 'not open for discussion' includes with Manna."

Pressing her lips together in what turned out to be a failed effort to suppress giggles, Ann eventually calmed herself down enough to choke out a rather lame; "You're such a dumb blonde. No, sorry, brunette." Jack started chuckling to himself and the two high-fived, leaving Jill to glare at them both with her hands on her hips.

"Jack... you're so going home tomorrow."

"Aw, come on," he sighed. "Be nice. I haven't told you off for staying out until four in the morning with that boy –"

"Gray?" Ann gasped, grabbing Jack's forearm and pulling him over to a table. "What? Tell me everything! Why wasn't I informed?" she turned and raised a teasing eyebrow at Jill. "And what exactly kept you two so busy until that hour?"

"It's not –" Jill protested, before being immediately cut off by her brother who told Ann the 'true' story, with great emphasis on the quotation marks. With the story growing steadily more and more ridiculous between Ann and Jack's overactive imaginations, she eventually stopped trying to protest all together and half-listened to how she'd secretly eloped with Gray using the festival as their cover, honeymooned in Spain and came back several hours later – not realizing that they were so late, because of the time difference in Spain. Or something like that.

"– you think they went to Italy? I always wanted to go to Italy; their flight could have stopped over there."

"Yes, Jack, we went to Italy," Jill said in a monotone, making both people gape at her, then at each-other.

"Did you hear that?"

"A confession!"

" Okay, very cute," she said in a voice that highlighted how cute she _really _thought it was. "Sorry I'm so moody, but I'm really tired and I've got to take Jack around the town."

"If you hadn't eloped to Spain you wouldn't be so tired," her brother shrugged as he stood up. "Alright, lead me away, dear sister. Where first?"

"Just upstairs," she shrugged. "Gray's up there – it's after one o'clock now, right? And Cliff will be, too, so you can meet him."

"Goody." He obediently followed his little sister up the stairs, watching as she knocked briefly on a door and barely waited for a reply before barreling in. There were two men in the room and both gave her half-smiles, though the expression of the one Jack hadn't seen before abruptly changed to confusion.

"Hi Gray. Hi Cliff," Jill smiled.

Gray grunted a reply at her, not making much eye-contact with either sibling, but Cliff still had an expression of utter bemusement on his face. After a long pause, he put all their minds to rest. "Your hair..."

Gray graciously turned to face the wall so she wouldn't see him smirking; Jack was rather less polite about it as he openly laughed.

"I know. I know. Don't ask, please – um, this –" she gestured in Jack's direction, "Is my big brother."

Jack nodded to Cliff. "Good to meet you. I'm Jack. And... Gray, right?" Jill scowled at her brother – he knew very well that it was Gray, he'd been talking about him all morning... but he'd always been unnaturally good at the whole 'innocent' act. An awkward silence followed – Jill probably should have anticipated that, standing in a room with the two most quiet people in the country.

"Right," she said, clearing her throat. "We've got to keep going... Jack has to meet everyone, you know. Bye guys." She left the room quickly – it took her until the bottom of the staircase to realize that Jack wasn't following. Speeding back up the stairs, she frowned to see Jack still leaning in the door frame

She drew close just in time to hear him ask, "So Gray, how was Spain?" before she dragged him away from the door by his ear.

"You, outside," Jill instructed her older brother sharply once they were downstairs. "I'll be two minutes." He stuck his tongue out childishly and walked out to wait for her. "Hey, Ann?"

"Thank the Goddess," the redhead burst out, grabbing Jill's wrist and pulling her into the kitchen, slamming and locking the door behind them. "I have been wanting to talk to you in private for for_ever_."

"If you weren't having so much fun ridiculing me with Jack –"

"Yeah, yeah," the waitress coughed impatiently. "I'm sorry for that, I am, but..." her cheeks suddenly colored as she stared at the ground. "Um... Cliff kissed me last night."

"What? That's – that's brilliant! When? How?"

"After the festival," Ann replied, starting to get into her story. "We were walking back to the inn, and he was being really quiet. Not normal quiet, _Cliff _quiet."

"Geez."

"Yeah. Um, anyway... we came inside, and it was about midnight and all the lights were out and everyone was in bed – well, with the exception of Gray, obviously." She winked but rushed on before Jill could interrupt her. "He said, uh... 'I'll see you later', and I said, 'Yeah. I had fun.' And he was all blushing and stuff, so I just went for it."

"And then...?"

"I went to bed."

Jill raised a surprised eyebrow, then forced a smile onto her face. "So... _you_ kissed _him_." Ann's face fell rapidly and the blonde – or brunette, quickly retracted her thoughtless words. "That's fantastic, Ann. Really – it's great that you took the initiative. And I mean... he didn't push you away –"

"I know!" A dreamy expression crossed the face of the usually alert girl, and Jill had to shake her head. She knew very well what it was like to be around lovestruck people...

"Oh no. Jack," she whispered, waving to Ann quickly before unbolting and throwing open the heavy door. "I can't let him loose! What if he sees a girl?"

"Tell him he can come see me any time he feels like it," Ann said, the corner of her mouth pulling up into a smirk. She stopped Jill dead for a few moments as Jill stared at her incredulously.

"Okay, first? Gross. That's my brother. And second, don't you think one boy is enough to have a crush on for now? Remember, Cliff kissing you?"

"Oh yeah... I should go see what the boys want for lunch, huh?"

"Cliff will probably be happy with whatever you're serving," Jill retorted with a sweet smile. "Now really... I have to go."

**xxx**

"Jack!" Jill raced up behind her brother and jumped on his back, sending both of them toppling to the ground. "Tell me you didn't talk to anyone female!"

"I didn't," he said in an annoyed voice, "And even if I _had _it wouldn't matter – I know how to behave in public; I'm not some out of control womanizer."

Silence.

"I'm _not_!" he insisted sharply. "I just... like them a whole lot."

"Okay, Jack. But promise me you won't hit on any of the girls here. I know your intentions are good, but you and I both know that you'll end up dumping them, and that'll be _really _awkward for me to deal with."

He held up both hands. "Fine. I'll be charming, and polite, and so well-behaved you won't even recognize me. Take me to a woman; I'll prove myself."

Two minutes later, standing outside the library, Jill was beginning to think that maybe she could have picked a better subject to unleash Jack on first. But he was already pushing open the glass door, and expecting the worst, Jill followed him.

The librarian glanced up, both eyebrows rising. "Hello..."

"Hey Mary," Jill said, smiling awkwardly. She didn't know why, honestly – but there was always awful tension between her and this girl. They didn't openly slight each-other; they smiled when they met during moments like this – but she didn't actually _like _Mary the same way that she liked most others in town. She didn't have a reason to dislike her, so she didn't – it was just a very weird, guarded feeling. "Uh... this is my brother Jack. I told you about him when I was getting the books..."

Mary let her eyes travel to Jack slowly and she allowed him a tiny smile. "Nice to meet you."

Jack raised an eyebrow and tilted his head ever so slightly, making Jill jab him in the ribs with her elbow. _Don't you dare hit on her, _her steely glare warned him. _Wasn't going to, _his own eyes shot back defensively_._ "Nice to meet you, too."

"Jill, your hair's, uh..."

"Why is that the first thing everyone says to me?" Jill snapped instantly. Jack coughed, turned, and gave his sister an incredulous stare.

"Maybe because your hair's done a 180 degree change in color?"

Mary laughed softly from behind him, otherwise immersed in several papers on her desk. Jill frowned. "Yeah, but... nyeh. Come on, Jack... we've got the rest of the town to get through. Bye Mary."

"Goodbye." The librarian busied herself with her writing, but as soon as she heard the door slam, she dropped her pen and rested her head in her hands. Just _trying_ to be nice to Jill drained her _so much_. But then, she didn't have a good reason to be anything less than polite, so she tried to smile and bear it. And now the girl had brought along a brother? Ugh.

The Goddess was undoubtedly very angry at Mary for something.

**xxx**

"So? What did you think of her?" Jill asked, dancing in circles around her brother for some unknown reason. "Think you can resist?"

"She's a beautiful girl. Very, very pretty, in a... hot librarian kind of way," he shrugged. "But... she kind of seems like she's all... reserved but ready to snap at any second, then she'll bite your head off."

Jill made a disgusted face. "There's an image."

"All I'm saying is... you need to watch out for the quiet ones. I'll be making sure not to get on her bad side."

Rolling her eyes, Jill inclined her head towards a small shop. "You want to go to the Supermarket yet?"

"Yeah, whatever." He had to duck just to get through the door, and he glanced around the tiny room in surprise. "... I'm telling you, _this_ place puts the 'super' in supermarket."

"Shut up. It's... cozy. It's a small town. Good morning, Jeff!" she waved cheerfully at a very small man with a very large mustache. "This is Jack... he's come to live with me. He's my brother, and I'm... well, introducing him to people... would you be able to get Karen and Sasha?"

Jeff clutched his stomach and groaned. "O-oh... ow. I'll just g-get them..."

Jack's eyes widened. "Are you... okay? Shouldn't you go to the hospital or something?" He winced as his sister pinched his arm firmly. Jeff ignored the pair of them and hobbled over to the back door.

"K-Karen? There's someone to see you... is your mother there?" He paused for a moment. "...Okay..." still clutching his stomach and wincing, he turned to the siblings. "Karen's coming... ah, but her mother's at the square. Uh... didn't you used to be blonde?"

"Yeah, long story. Hi Karen," Jill called as the beautiful girl stepped into the room.

"Hi Jill. Hey! Your hair's brown!"

"I KNOW!"

"Okay... geez..."

She sighed loudly, closing her eyes for a brief second. "I'm... I'm sorry. Look, I just thought you might like to meet my brother –"

"Ooh, let me see him properly!" Karen requested instantly, half-shoving Jill out of the way in her effort to see the elusive, 'cute-sounding' Jack. Her jaw dropped open, Jack's expression much the same, and she started to twirl a strand of hair around one finger as she gave him a bright smile. "Ah – hey."

"Hey," Jack replied, not paying any heed at all to Jill's warning glares. "I'm Jack, and _you_ are absolutely gorgeous."

"You're not so bad yourself," she countered, barely missing a beat. Jill groaned, knowing that she should put a stop to it early but frankly, lacking the energy.

"Come here often?" he asked, a teasing smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, you know... I only _live_ here," she smiled back. "How about you?"

"I'll definitely be making my visits more frequent."

"I'm very glad to hear it."

The conversation probably could have dragged on for a long time, but an exasperated Jill stepped in. "_Jack_?" she asked, gritting her teeth meaningfully, "We should get going."

Winking at a blushing Karen, Jack obediently followed his sister. "I'll be seeing _you _very soon. She's single, right?" he hissed as soon as the door had closed behind Jill and him. His sister whirled around, fixing him with a 'drop dead you disobedient jerk' glare.

"Don't try _anything_. You don't even know her!"

"I know she's completely hot."

"JACK. Don't. Even. Think. About. It._"_

"Far too late for that, Sis."

"Ugh," she spat, smacking his arm. "Can you not... wait until you've met everyone before you start deciding which girl you're going to date first? Jack," her voice lowered and her expression became more serious. "I'm serious. You promised me it wouldn't be like this – okay, fair enough, it's Karen... she knows how to handle heavy flirting. But the other girls have no idea – they'll take it as much more than it is, and... they're all sweet girls. I don't want to see them hurt by you, of all people."

"Okay, okay," Jack said, sounding and looking slightly ashamed. "I can't promise I won't flirt at all – you know what I'm like. But if it means that much to you... I guess I can cope without any more of _that_."

"Thank you." Jill grinned as she threw her arms around him in what was more like an attack than a hug. "Maybe I won't regret letting you come completely."

**xxx**


	15. Chapter 15

**xxx**

"There's two seats right over there, I'll be by with menus shortly!" Ann smiled, racing off to serve an impatient Duke some more wine.

"I don't know how you've even kept yourself alive, judging by what I've seen of your eating habits," Jack teased his sister. "Have you just been eating at the inn every day?" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll have you know that my eating habits have been fine. Sure, most days I'll have at least one of my meals here – but you'll see, it's not junk food. It's all homemade. And occasionally, if I absolutely have to, I'll run to the supermarket and get stuff to make sandwiches for myself or something. But now... you'll be doing all the cooking around here from now on, Little Mister Professional Chef."

"I can't wait. I –"

"Hey, wait," Jill interrupted, a sudden thought coming into her head. "Do you remember a little boy and girl that we were friends with when we were... much younger? I would have been four or five, and you... maybe seven or eight – and I _think _the girl's name might have been Kate."

Jack wrinkled his brow for a couple of moments, then nodded slowly. "Yeah... little, like... blonde girl, right? Kate sounds familiar... and I think I was friends with her brother... gosh Jill – that's ages ago. What on earth made you think of that?"

Jill shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know, I... had a random dream about them this morning. It doesn't matter. So, um..." she twirled her straw in her glass of water absent-mindedly. "What did you do after I left town? You were still doing University, I think..."

Jack cleared his throat raising both eyebrows as if he were having difficulty remembering. "Well... you know I did some study in business and dabbled in law, but I ended up majoring in Music – to the disgust of Mom and Dad, obviously." He chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "Uh, anyway... if you want to know, Veronica was doing brilliantly in law – of course, right? That girl would be a fantastic lawyer. But yeah, once she got pregnant she had to –"

"What?" Jill exploded suddenly, jumping out of her chair and spilling her drink over in the process. Jack watched with confused eyes as the liquid seeped in, making the table visible through the damp tablecloth. "Pregnant? _Pregnant_?" Her breath was catching in her throat; choking her as Jack glanced up, looking ten times more confused than he had seconds before. "She... can't be. She can't. W-with, _his_ baby?"

"Jill, shh," Jack warned his sister, uncomfortable with the amount of people staring at them. "You _know_ this already. I'm certain I told you in that letter I wrote..."

"No, you _didn't_," she snapped venomously, her shock overwhelming her sense of reason. "I think I just might _maybe _have remembered a freaking tiny detail like that!" Legs seeming to give way beneath her, she collapsed back into her chair weakly. "Are they... sure she's pregnant?"

"That's why they married so suddenly," Jack murmured quietly. "She had her daughter a few weeks before I left – that's why I was certain I'd written it in that letter. It took me ages to figure out how to say it; I remember –"

"All you said was that he and Veronica were married, and that news in itself was enough," Jill whispered. "So... I'm an aunt?" Her brother nodded at her hesitantly, then cringed as the tears started to spill over. "I have a baby niece... and I'll never be able to see her."

"Don't cry," he begged. "Of course you'll be able to see her one day – you'll go back for a visit or something..."

Jill shook her head stubbornly, eyes red. "I will _not_. How could I ever look at Veronica's daughter if – Goddess, she should have been _mine_. That should be my baby – I should be married to him, Jack! Not _her_, not her... she's always taken everything from me. Everything she wanted, she'd take – oh Goddess." A peculiar muffled sound came from her as she sat there, both hands pressed firmly over her lips until she trusted herself to speak. "What's the baby's name?"

Jack bit his lip. "I don't remember."

"That is the biggest load of crap I've ever hea –"

"Look, just trust me – you don't want to know."

"Oh please," she scoffed. "You've told me this much, right? I doubt hearing the kid's name is going to make a difference to how I'm feeling right now. What is it? Veronica-junior? Backstabber-junior? Completely-screw-your-only-sister-over-junior?"

"Kayla-Jillian."

An almost physically painful silence fell between them, Jill's hands tightening on the now empty glass and Jack's eyes following her every move carefully. "Jillian," she choked, as if she thought she might have heard him wrong. "Jillian... as in, my name."

"Yes." Jack glanced at his hands, fighting a fierce battle with his conscience over whether an explanation needed to be given. "I think... Tom –" he didn't miss the way she winced just at the sound of his name out loud, "Tom said that she had your eyes... and then Veronica suggested that they name her after you. She misses you." Of course, another pause followed, this one even worse – if that was possible.

Jill shook her head and stood up, her legs wobbling slightly.

"I'm... I'm exhausted. It's been a long day, you know... I'm going to go home and lie down." Jack stood up immediately, but she quickly protested. "No, you stay here. I'm fine by myself – I kind of want to be by myself for a little while." She fought determinedly to keep her chin up, and the waver out of her voice. "I'll... I'll see you later on. Go talk to Ann or something, okay?" she slowly walked out of the door, leaving Jack to stare after her sympathetically until Ann approached him.

"Man, she didn't look good. Is she sick?" Jack nodded to her silently, sitting back down and gesturing for the waitress to take the other seat. "Aw. Well... actually, I wanted to talk to you about something that she can't hear."

A smirk crossed Jack's face and he raised an interested eyebrow. "I'm listening..."

Ann coughed. "Right. Well... it's Karen's birthday tomorrow, which is always a big deal – we have a party here and everyone comes along... you know. So, um... Jill didn't even get a small party because she 'forgot' to tell us it was her birthday. So Popuri brought up the idea that _maybe _we could throw them a double party as a surprise for Jill, huh?"

It took Jack all of half a second to nod enthusiastically. "That's a great idea."

"Oh, you think so? 'Cause I was thinking – well, how old did she turn?"

"Twenty..."

"Are you serious?" She laughed to herself, delighted. "Even better. Karen's just turning twenty-one, so the focus may be on Jill a bit more –"

"But... isn't twenty-one a more significant age?"

Ann fixed him with a confused smile. "No... why would twenty-one be important? Your tenth birthday is important, then your fifteenth, then your twentieth... twenty-one's just a random number. But turning twenty... is the biggest deal. It's like, transition from a child to an adult."

Ann and Jack chatted late into the night, planning meticulously and deciding what time to have the party – as well as Ann excitedly thinking about the cleaning that was sure to follow a big party. But Doug eventually insisted that Ann get to bed, and Jack was practically kicked out the door, forced home to check up on his sister.

She was curled up on the couch, asleep with tissues balled up on the floor around her and tear stains on her face. His heart sinking, he carefully lifted her and placed her on her own bed. She only stirred a little and he prayed that she wouldn't wake up; even nightmares were probably better than the dull ache of reality for her at the moment. But she barely moved, giving him leave to kiss her on the cheek and silently cross the room to get ready for bed himself. "Love you, kiddo," he murmured, shaking his head and walking into his own bedroom.

**xxx**

_"Mummy said that I can have a birthday party next week," Kate announced to Jill happily. "And she said that you can help too, if you want. Isn't that cool? I want a fairy princess party on the beach with a clown and magician and I want to go swimming with tigers."_

"_Cool!" Jill announced gleefully. "Mommy can buy some fairy-glitter makeup, and they'll have to let us wear it because it's your birthday." The pair giggled excitedly. They were standing at a school bus stop, waiting for their brothers to arrive and walk home with them._

"_Hey, I see Jack!" Jill announced cheerfully, waving to her brother wildly. "And I can see your brother, too!"_

"_JACK!" Kate called, waving manicly and completely ignoring her own brother. "Jack, Jack, Jack! Over heeere!"_

"_Hi, can we go?" Jack asked impatiently, obviously afraid of being noticed by his school friends while talking to 'pre-school girls' and being relatively nice to his little sister, obviously an embarrassing situation for any seven-year-old boy to find himself in. He set off, walking at a fast pace._

"_Hey... hey Jack, wait up!" Kate called loudly, running after Jack as quickly as her short legs would carry her. Jill and Kate's brother were left walking together._

"_Hi," she said brightly._

"_... Hi," the boy replied, his voice as subdued as hers was bubbly. A blush settled over his cheeks._

"_Hurry _up_," Jack insisted in frustration. "You two are seriously the biggest slowpokes in the whole world!"_

_Both children bristled at the shocking insult and started running to overtake the pair ahead of them. It wasn't until they had caught up that Jill realised the little boy was holding her hand. _

_She glanced at him, puzzled, and he quickly dropped it while mumbling something incoherent. _

_Jill opened her mouth to say something, but realized that for once, she couldn't find the words._

**xxx**

When Jill awoke the next morning, it was in the middle of a tangled mass of blankets on the cold wooden floor – more than enough proof that she'd had an incredibly fitful sleep. She stumbled and struggled to work her way out of the mess and to her feet, and when she finally did, her eyes fell on a clock reading five in the morning.

It would be cruel to wake her brother up at such an hour, so she simply pulled on a dressing gown and slippers and headed outside, doing her best to ignore the dull ache in her chest and head. After a few pointless laps of the farm, she stopped outside the chicken coop and brought one hand up to her head before walking in.

The egg on the incubator seemed to be very close to hatching, she noticed reluctantly. A baby chicken... just a few days ago, the idea would have brought a smile to her face, but today... it did nothing but remind her of another certain baby.

What was that old saying? Something about love not being envious; love not being bitter. If that was true, what did that make the relationship that had existed between herself and Tom – and still existed, although grudgingly, on at least one side? She was certainly envious; more than envious, really. And though she hated to own up to it... she was bitter, too. Bitter that Tom hadn't loved her as much as she loved him. Bitter that, yet again, Veronica had exactly what she wanted at someone else's expense. Bitter that... her own sister had the husband, the house, the baby – everything that should have belonged to Jill.

She shook her head and grabbed a bag of chicken feed, blindly sprinkling it around her feet. She _was_ smart, in her own way – or at least, she wasn't as dumb as her parents, sister, Tom... even Jack – had thought she was. So academically she struggled, and no matter how hard she tried, farming wasn't something she would ever be talented at. So she had blue eyes and – with the exception of this week, blonde hair. Was there some rule that said because of that, her IQ must automatically be twenty points lower than everybody else's?

_Why_ was Veronica so perfect? Why was Jill born into a family where having an average level of intelligence was, at best, embarrassing? The only reason her family perceived her as a 'dumb blonde' was the fact that the rest of her family were freaking geniuses. And maybe... maybe that was why Veronica had felt that she could take Tom. Because Jill was too 'ditzy' to feel as much pain over it as other people could – she'd be hurt for a week or two but then hey, she'd get over it.

Three seasons later, Jill could still prove that it wasn't true. It hurt just as much as ever.

But there was _one _thing she was only realising now; something that had never crossed her mind before. Maybe the worst part of all this wasn't that she'd been betrayed, or that she would miss Tom. The hardest part was the fear that Tom had taken something away from her that couldn't be replaced. And apart from the obvious, it felt like... she'd lost the ability to trust anyone else enough to ever fully fall in love with them.

She could only wish that she would prove herself wrong – but right now, she wasn't too hopeful.

"Jill?" Jack called frantically, checking in the fridge for some idiotic reason. He had woken up at seven and was shocked to find that his little sister, well-known for sleeping in, was not in her bed – or in the rest of the house, as far as he could tell.

He remembered the events of the night before and a chill went down his spine alongside the brief but terrifying thought that she might have attempted something drastic. Shaking his head to clear the image, his searching and shouting became frequently more urgent, and after a couple more minutes, he ran outside barefoot.

At first it seemed that he was wasting his time – the deserted barn and empty stable only seemed to be taunting him, and the picture in his mind was that of his sister, asleep last night with such a tear-streaked face. He should have woken her up, for goodness sakes! He should have... let her talk, and listened to her – let her know that he understood, he loved her, he was _there _for her. Even if he'd said something pointless – that not all men were like Tom and that she'd find someone someday – he should have done _something_, and now he was certain that both him and Jill were paying the heavy price.

As a last resort, he dashed down to the chicken coop with his heart pounding violently somewhere in his throat. And though a sudden wave of relief washed over him and his heart lifted when he heard noises from within, it was quick to sink again with the sight of his sister huddled in a corner, her small frame shaking as she cried.

He walked over wordlessly and sank down beside her, pulling her into a close hug. She buried her head in his shoulder, muffling her sobs against his shirt – and they sat like that, silent, until Jill pulled away and blinked up at her brother. Her blue eyes had brightened piercingly thanks to the tears.

"Do you think I'm dumb?" she choked, the hand pressed up to her mouth making it hard to understand her. "Honestly?"

Jack tilted his head, not sure if he'd heard the question correctly. "I don't think you're dumb. What's this all about?"

Jill sighed heavily. "You do. Maybe you don't... realise that's what you think, but I know that you do. I'm not a ditz though, Jack – and I need you to understand that. I have my moments, but... sometimes people don't see that _I _can, and do, hurt just as much as anyone else can. Maybe more. Goddess Jack, I... I can't do this. I can't think of them together –" she cut herself off as the sobs started up again, but she managed to choke out one last thing. "Tell me what to do, because I just... _don't _know."

He stared at his sister, at a total loss. He didn't want to admit it, least of all to himself – but he knew, deep down, that she was right. Of course he'd always tried to be there for Jill – of course he knew that she was hurting – it was the extent of her despair that he just hadn't understood.

"I - I don't know. I don't know what to say to you," he said desperately, unable to find the words to tell her that he was beginning to understand.

"It's okay." She gave a bittersweet smile. "If there's nothing to say... why say anything?"

**xxx**


	16. Chapter 16

**xxx**

"Get dressed," Jack instructed simply, tossing Jill a hideous orange dress that she hadn't even realised she owned.

"No," she said, before glancing at the dress. "Ew. _No._"

"_Yes_. Look Jill, I know you're upset," he begged, "But what kind of a brother would I be if I let my baby sister mope around all day, getting more and more depressed?"

Jill sighed slowly, recognizing a losing battle when she saw him. He wasn't going to let up, so she reluctantly moved over to her closet to find something else to wear. She noted her brother's crisp white shirt and black pants, and it didn't take a genius to realise that he was dressed up for something special. Why pass up the opportunity to annoy him? Jack glared at her indignantly when she pulled out a gray pair of trackpants and a paint-splattered t-shirt that belonged to him. "Can't you find something a _little _more dressy?"

"Why?" his sister pressed. "Where are we going?"

"Look," Jack growled, "I was planning on taking you out for a surprise dinner to cheer you up." _And the _rest_ of Mineral Town just might be there, throwing you a birthday party._ "Now that you've ruined my surprise, can you _please _get dressed... properly?" Jill dragged herself away from the cupboard, clutching a pink pair of overalls. Jack immediately shook his head, distaste plain on his face. "No. Not dressy enough."

"What kind of older brother gives his little sister fashion advice?" Jill teased, grabbing a random black skirt and a light blue top. "How about this, then?"

Jack cocked his head to the side, still frowning. "The skirt is okay... but the top kind of looks like something you would wear to the beach." Jill promptly smacked him with the clothing in her hand and started rummaging around for shoes. "Hurry..." her brother whined, glancing at his watch.

"Oh my Goddess," Jill exhaled. "You're so annoying! _What_ is the hurry? Would you just go back home already?"

"No can do, little darling," Jack smirked. "You probably should have thought all this through a little more before you invited me to live with you." He suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door, gaining violent protests as he did so. "Shh. We're late for, uh, our reservation."

"But I haven't straightened my hair!" she wailed, struggling to go back – to no avail.

"It looks lovely as it is."

"I'm hardly wearing any makeup!"

"You don't need it," he told her with a charming smile. She fixed him with a murderous glare.

"_Jack_. I'm not wearing any shoes."

He glanced down at her feet, and paused in his tracks. "Okay, fine. You might need those." He started pulling her in the other direction; kind of pointless, as she would have gone willingly – and he waited patiently as Jill grabbed a pair of black flats, fixed her hair and put on more makeup despite his 'We're going to be l-a-a-a-ate' protests.

Eventually – finally – she finished, and the siblings were able to head towards the inn.

**xxx**

"SURPRISE!"

Jill stopped in shock as what looked like all of Mineral Town leapt out from all sorts of places when she entered the inn. Her wide, disbelieving eyes took in the surroundings – her eye was first captured by a large poster saying **Happy 20th, Jill!** hanging next to an equally large one with **Happy 21st, Karen!** scrawled over it in big print. Streamers hung from the ceiling, and a huge spread of Doug's cooking was sitting on three tables that had been pushed together. Out of the corner of her eye, Jill was aware of Jack quietly side-stepping towards the food.

"You guys!" she stuttered, "This is incredible! How - what -"

Ann stepped forward proudly, a wide grin on her face. "Jack told me that it was your birthday a few days ago, and we felt _awful _for not having a party for you... and today is Karen's birthday... so we decided to throw you a joint party! Speaking of which, I'm really sorry everyone, I know you want to talk to Jill but we've got to hide before Ka –" her voice faltered uncharacteristically as the doors flew open and the brunette they had been talking about stood in the doorway. Her green eyes narrowed in confusion as she surveyed the room and the silent people in it.

"Su - surprise?" Jill whispered after a long pause, more a question than a statement. Taking her cue, Ann cut in, her face fixed into a smile.

"Happy birthday, Karen!"

"Uh, hey. It's... it's Jill's birthday too?" Karen's eyebrows were raised as far as they could go, but she had an awkward smile on her face at the same time. Apparently, of all people she wanted to share her limelight with, Jill was not high on her list – but she just nodded with the smile still plastered on, refusing to make a scene. "That's, um... cool."

"It was my birthday a few days ago," Jill told her with a smile. "I didn't know they were doing this. Happy birthday, though! Twenty-one is an important number!"

"In the city?" Ann piped up in confusion. "Why? Here, twenty is really major. Twenty-one is just another number, so –" she stopped abruptly when she noticed Karen's face. "Anyhow, lets have some fun, guys!" the redhead announced, eager to move on. "Jill, later in the evening you'll start off the dancing, and Karen will join you afterwards. Both of you should have an idea of partners –"

"Excuse me?" Jill cut her off, frowning. Ann paused.

"O - oh. I keep forgetting... come with me for a second. Everyone, enjoy yourselves!" She grabbed Jill's hand and dragged through a door and into her small room. Then she began pacing the floor. "This isn't good... this isn't good..."

"What's not good?"

"I keep forgetting that you wouldn't do this stuff in the city... right. Take a seat." Jill sat down gingerly on Ann's bed, apprehensive about just _what_ could have the waitress so stressed. "Okay... well, like you said, turning twenty-one is a big number or whatever, but here, turning twenty is like... the main event that separates a girl and a young lady."

Jill's face dropped. "And I'm guessing that's a problem for me?"

"Um... well, not if you don't make it one. It's just this tradition that dates back for decades, maybe centuries... the birthday girl, from the age of twenty and over, will choose a partner and perform the traditional waltz with him, as long as she's unmarried. And twenty is massive, because it's the first year that you'll ever do it... so it's a big deal for the guy you choose as well. So it's... not... so... bad?"

Jill was staring, her mouth wide open. "Ann, I – uh... well. First, I don't know the 'traditional waltz', whatever the heck that is. Second, I have no clue who to pick for a partner – I don't have anyone I could even ask! And third, I'm not doing it. Sorry."

"First, I'll teach you it – you were a dancer, right? It's simple. If I can do it – well, you know. Second, it's not rocket science. Pick the guy that you're closest to. And third, uh yes, you are. You can't just choose not to dance on your twentieth birthday – it's a _huge_ sign of disrespect towards the Harvest Goddess."

Jill groaned and punched one of Ann's pillows. "But–!"

"Jill, we don't have the time to argue! We only have half an hour to learn the dance, because you need time to socialise before you do it and... well, you're dancing it in an hour. Also, you can't dance in that. You need the proper, white dress."

"Well I'm _really _sorry to be an inconvenience, but I don't _have _the proper white dress," Jill snapped sarcastically. Ann winced, then her eyes lit up.

"You can use mine!" she raced over to the wardrobe and carefully lifted out a blue dress bag that was stashed away at the back. When she unzipped it, and held up the contents, Jill's eyes widened.

"It's..." the dress was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was white silk, with a wide blue bow tied just below the bust. The sleeves and bottom of the skirt were adorned with delicate lace, and the whole thing looked like it would break at the slightest touch. "Ann, it's absolutely gorgeous."

"It was my mom's," Ann said, a trace of sadness in her eyes. "And I wore it for my twentieth."

"Ann, I can't wear that..."

"Don't be stupid," Ann said with an airy wave of her hand, "I'm offering it to you. I want you to wear it. You'll come back and get changed into it just before it's time, and that's that. Now stand up..." she took the man's position in a ballroom hold, and Jill rolled her eyes before standing up to join her. "Aaaand, one two three, one two three, one two three, spin... one two three –"

**xxx**

"Happy birthday, Karen. Here..." Jack handed the girl a small wrapped present, which she eagerly ripped open.

"Wow! Thank you, it's a... oh. Chocolates." Her expression changed drastically. "I don't really... I mean, thanks. This is... great."

"Oh... almost forgot this." He handed her another bag, and her disappointed face transformed even more drastically as she saw what was in it.

"W-wine? Jack, oh, thank you so much! How – how did you know? Goddess, I _love_ this!" she was almost sobbing out of gratitude, clutching the bottle to her chest protectively. Jack half-smiled, wondering what on earth was wrong with the girl.

"Uh, you're welcome. I've got to go... check where Jill is, so..." he left Karen fawning over her bottle of wine,and dashed off, looking for his sister. Recognising both her and Ann standing across the room, he ambled over.

"...Mary, with Gray last year... Karen was with Rick, of course, and I... well, I asked Cliff but he hadn't learnt the dance, so I went with Rick as well. I'm pretty sure Elli danced with Tim, but I don't really remember for sure... and Popuri is planning on choosing Kai when she turns twenty next Summer."

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, completely out of the conversation. Jill turned around and filled her brother in on her predicament, much to his amusement.

"I knew about this for awhile," he said with a cheeky grin, "But I couldn't tell you... that'd ruin the whole surprise thing. Luckily I had time to learn the dance..." he winked at Ann who stuck her tongue out, already wise to his charms – but they were interrupted by a certain red haired... UMA-hat-wearing... person. With not-so-subtle glances and nudges, Ann and Jack left the pair alone.

"Happy birthday," Gray coughed, pulling his hat down over his eyes. He held out a beige jewellery box, clearing his throat slightly. "I just... yeah."

Jill opened it slowly and brought one hand up to her chest in astonishment. She lifted a thin gold necklace that had a beautiful, shimmering, pale blue stone dangling in the middle. The chains were linked together a tad inexpertly and the stone was cut slightly rough, proof – almost a kind of signature – that Gray had made it himself. "This is unbelievable," she murmured, a genuine smile making its way onto her face.

"Cool," he replied shortly. "I was hoping you'd like it. Well, uh... that's good."

"Like it? I love it." Undoing the clasp, she tried to put it on but struggled, not able to see it. She glanced up at Gray who was blushing furiously as he inclined his head towards it.

"I can – if you want –"

"That'd be great," Jill smiled, holding the chain out to him. He stared at it for a few moments, then walked around behind Jill as she lifted her hair out of the way. Slowly, he threaded the necklace around her neck and expertly did up the clasp, despite the way his hands were shaking slightly. Playing with the stone, Jill turned back to face him again. "Thanks. Is it okay?"

_Beautiful_. "Uh, yeah. It's... it's fine," Gray shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance. "You look good."

"Well, thank you," Jill said, looking taken-aback. A soft smile lit up her face and she subconsciously stepped a little closer to the blacksmith. Her eyes found his and stayed there; surprisingly, he didn't break the contact either.

"ATTENTION!" Mayor Thomas yelled to the crowd suddenly, making the two hurriedly look away from each-other and up at him. As the room fell silent, he raised his glass. "Today, two beautiful young women stand in our presence. One of them has just made the transition from a girl in a state of childhood into a beautiful young woman in the permanent state of adulthood. The other is celebrating her birthday and we pray that she will continue on her path to becoming a shining beacon in our wonderful society." Karen and Jill rolled their eyes at each-other across the room, smirking at the Mayor's elaborations.

"Now I have to request that Karen and Jill – accompanied by the other young ladies their age – go and prepare to start the traditional dancing." Elli and Popuri crossed the room to grab Jill's elbows, Mary grabbed Karen, and Ann bustled them all into her bedroom.

"Elli," Ann snapped, roaring back into her fondly named 'Dictator Mode'. "Get Jill's hair done! Mary and Popuri, do Karen's... I'll get both the dresses ready. Karen, did you put yours in my closet? Okay... and where are your shoes? Right..."

Jill winced as Elli swept her _still_ brown hair back roughly into a bun as Karen grabbed Jill's hand from the seat next to her, squeezing tight and whimpering as Mary drove pins into her hair forcefully. After an agonizing few minutes the hair was finished and both girls turned around to face Ann. She had laid both dresses out on the bed and both pairs of shoes were on the floor beneath, ready for the girls to put on. Karen wobbled slight standing in the heels, but Jill had spent countless hours trekking about the city in heels much higher than those she was wearing. Finally, both girls were completely ready, and they glanced at each-other with small smiles.

"You look incredible," Karen admitted with a shrug. "I guess... it's your twentieth, so you probably should."

"Karen," Jill said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Go... go find a mirror."

"Yes yes, you both look wonderful," Ann said impatiently. "Come on, the mayor's waiting – and I'm very well-known for getting things done _fast_. Are you two really that keen to ruin my reputation?"

**xxx**

"Jill, will you select a partner for the first dance?" Mayor Thomas asked quietly. The rest of the room was completely silent.

With a deep breath, Jill glanced at the five boys standing in a crooked line. There was Jack, a no for obvious reasons. Rick... it actually wasn't even a possibility; the last thing she wanted to do was lead him on in any way. Doctor Tim? No – Elli was throwing her a warning glance, and she planned on being alive by the end of the evening, thank you very much. Cliff? On that train of thought, she was more scared of Ann than she was of Elli.

And finally, there was Gray. By the looks of him, he was locked in a fierce staring contest with the ground. But he... even though the others weren't avaliable for various reasons, Gray would have been her main choice anyway. She'd just wasted a whole lot of time by going through them.

"Um, Gray," she said, glancing at the mayor for approval. The blacksmith glanced up, both eyebrows raised in surprise, before walking over to Jill with a half-smile. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled so that only he could hear as she fumbled for the waltz position. "I'm going to be terrible – I just learnt the dance now; I –"

"It's okay," he replied, a note of unfamiliar confidence in his voice. "I can lead." And he could; holding her strongly without a hint of his usual shyness, he twirled her around the floor – and soon enough, she found herself laughing. Actually _enjoying _herself.

_I remember it well,  
The first time that I saw  
Your head round the door,  
'Cause mine stopped working_

Gray was smiling too, she noticed – a proper smile, without his usual reservations. "I can't believe you can dance," she called to him, laughing again when he lifted her in the air for a few brief seconds.

_I remember it well,  
There was wet in your hair  
I was stood in the stair  
And time stopped moving_

Everything around Gray was incredibly vague and hard to focus on, but Jill managed to observe with an amused smile that Karen flounced past Rick to grab Jack's hand. It was hard not to find the way Jack stepped on Karen's feet every few seconds hilarious, but her heart sank when she saw the hurt in Rick's eyes. And then out of nowhere, Gray was spinning her in a way she hadn't learnt. "Wait, wait," she insisted quickly, "Ann didn't teach me this."

"Pay attention," he smirked in reply, playfully spinning her again – and it was then that in sank in; he was _teasing _her. Serious, withdrawn Gray! Jill's mouth dropped open for a few moments, before she started laughing again and let him twirl her, throwing the choreography to the wind.

_Want you here tonight, want you here,  
'Cause I can't believe what I've found,  
Want you here tonight, want you here,  
Nothing's taking me down._

It didn't really matter, truthfully – more and more couples were flocking onto the dance floor and joining in, making their own dances up. Manna had conned Duke into it, Anna and Basil were waltzing together, and Sasha seemed to be leading Jeff.

Jack watched his sister, thrilled to see her looking like she was genuinely enjoying herself. He raised an eyebrow as Karen moved a little closer to him. To be honest, she was starting to scare him – yeah, she was gorgeous, but she was already acting like they were a couple – and knowing himself as well as he did, getting tied down was _not _a good idea.

"Hey, Karen?"

"Yeah..." she said slowly, batting her dark eyelashes at him. He gently guided her to the side of the floor, then stopped dancing.

"Why don't you go dance with Rick for a little while?"

"Excuse me?" she asked immediately, raising a perfect eyebrow. "If you don't want to dance with me, you can just say so –"

"No, it's not that. Just... look at him." The brunette's eyes turned to where her ex-boyfriend was standing miserably, making her sigh.

"He brought it on himself, you know. He broke up with me."

"Karen... go on," Jack encouraged. "I'm sure knows the dances better than I do, at least. I'm going to break your feet if I keep standing on them." Karen laughed, shot another glance at Jack, then hesitantly made her way over to the sandy-haired boy.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jack glanced around the room. All of the young people – and most of the older townsfolk – were dancing, and those who weren't sat laughing together at a table. But he noticed something out of the corner of his eye – Mary was sitting by herself far away from anyone else, watching the dancing sadly. Jack walked over to her and sat down, receiving a surprised look and almost a glare when he did so.

"Hey," he said with a worried frown. Mary glanced at him for a split second before turning her gaze back to the dancers.

"Hello."

"Are you... okay?"

"Yes."

His frown deepening, Jack shook his head. "Oh. You just... you look a little upset. If you –"

"I'm not," Mary interrupted quickly. "I'm fine."

"Right. Why aren't you dancing?"

Exhaling and looking like he was some great inconvenience to her, Mary bit her lip. "Dancing isn't compulsory, is it?"

"But _why _aren't you?"

The librarian fixed him with an incredulous stare, her eyebrows lowering in disbelief at his persistance. Hadn't she outlined clearly that she didn't want anyone near her? "Do _you _see anyone around for me to dance with?" she finally asked.

"Sure," Jack shrugged. "Just dance with me – we'll bluff our way through and pretend we have a clue what we're doing. I'm worried about you, over here by yourself. You look miserable."

"You can't be worried," she scoffed. "We don't even know each-other."

"Sure we do. I'm Jack, you're Mary. Wonderful. Come on – at least tell me how I can blackmail you into dancing."

"You can't," she told him plainly. "I'm not dancing."

"Alright," Jack shrugged after a pause. "Okay. You can't say I didn't try – just... know that if you change your mind, I'll be around. Come up to me and say, 'Jack, I understand now that you're a lovely person, and I'd be honored to dance with you.' Something along those lines. Kay?"

"Sure," Mary said, rolling her eyes at him with the tiniest trace of a smile on her face. "If I change my mind."

"See ya." Jack walked back into the crowd and Mary let out a long breath, preparing herself before her eyes found Gray and Jill once again.

**xxx**

**Credit to Damien Rice's 'I Remember' for the dance lyrics. It's actually a girl singing the lyrics that I put in there, but... I don't know what her name is. Lisa something. I suggest you get the song though, it's brilliant.**


	17. Chapter 17

**This chapter makes a jump from the 15th of Autumn to the 1st of Winter, just so you know XD**

**xxx**

"Jill! Wake up!" Jack called, his voice sounding excited beyond compare.

"Ha. Ha. No." Jill mumbled, the pillow muffling her words. It was before ten o'clock and Jack was trying to wake her up. The verdict? Jack was insane and seriously deluded.

"But it's _snowing!_"

She shot out of bed and was at the window immediately. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed, her eyes almost popping out of her head at the sight of the white blanket of snow covering the ground. She went to race outside, but was stopped by her spoil-sport brother.

"Uh - you're wearing the shortest nightdress I've ever seen, and it's freezing outside. You're not going _anywhere_ until you put some warm clothes on - it isn't like you don't have enough now."

About a week earlier, Jack heard the story of Jill's elusive suitcases – that had never been delivered to her home in Mineral Town – and took matters into his own hands, calling the baggage company and threatening to sue the 'flipping ace' (though a decidedly less appropriate version of each word) off them if all five suitcases didn't show up, and fast. They had, just 24 hours later, and Jill had been in seventh heaven playing dress-ups with her long lost outfits for the past few days.

Pouting, she crossed over to the mirror and wrapped herself up in her favorite winter coat, then threw her hair into a ponytail.

"I love being blonde again," she called out to her brother, admiring her golden locks. "Brown hair made me feel sad." Jack raised an eyebrow but chose to ignore her oh-so-intelligent comment.

"Okay... you can go out now." He watched in amusement as his sister bounced around outside, tossing the powdery snow on her puppy's head and making snow angels.

It was funny - she was only three years younger than him, and it was said that boys grew up slower than girls - but in so many ways, he felt like her father instead of her brother. Sometimes she seemed so young - but at other times she showed maturity way past her years. Jill was probably the most rapidly changing girl he'd ever met – mature to immature, happy to upset – though after twenty years of practice, he'd learned to understand her... most of the time.

She had told him solemnly the day after her birthday party that she needed to find a way to move on from everything that had happened between Tom and Veronica. Jill had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with either of them - it was sad, he thought, that a girl barely out of her teens could be driven so far away from the ones she loved. But it was too late, and as Jill had said, she needed time to find herself again. She had been with Tom for so long that she didn't know who she was without him.

Truthfully, although his main instinct was to protect her from evil, heartbreaking men altogether, he wanted nothing more than to see Jill fall in love again - to see her smile properly and to see her really, truly happy once more. There was Gray – the two had been spending more and more time together since Jill's birthday, and it was plain to everyone around him that he was falling for her hard. Everyone except Jill, that is, who apparently remained blissfully clueless.

And then at times, it seemed like she was returning the feelings – and it wouldn't surprise Jack all that much if she _did _end up falling for Gray, too. But on the other hand, it was highly unlikely that she would put herself through all that again – the heartbreak and risk that came with a serious relationship. He could only hope that Gray didn't get badly hurt in all of this – he was just a good guy falling for the wrong girl.

Thinking of such things turned Jack's mind to his own - practically non-existent - love life. Truth be told, the break from dating was something of a relief – his mobile phone didn't work out here, and these were the first days he'd had since his teenage years when anxious girls weren't texting him, begging him to return their calls and meet up with them. He hadn't treated any of them particularly well, to be absolutely truthful.

But when they were throwing themselves at him, it was almost like they reduced their own worth. When they knew what they were getting into – and with Jack Evans, they certainly did – and they would _still _line up, eager for their few moments... where was their pride? How could he possibly be proud of dating anyone like that?

Now that he was away from all that, it was somewhat annoying, while kind of peaceful. It was also why – though the girl was gorgeous, and reasonably nice – he couldn't find himself as attracted to Karen as he had been at first. She'd just made herself... too available. Goddess, it sounded awful, he knew – and he didn't want girls playing games with him, but... ah. It was all the same; a dull monotone of girl after girl – and he couldn't remember one, in his entire life, that had really stuck out as different.

Anyway, Karen and Rick were seeing each-other again... kind of. There was some kind of tension between them – no-one had bothered to explain it to Jack, and he wasn't going to ask Jill; it was extremely unlikely that she would know... she wasn't the most observant person around, no matter how she protested otherwise.

All the girls in Mineral Town were very pretty... but he couldn't say that he had any real interest in any of them, romantically. Ann was a close friend who was very fond of talking his ear off about her three beloved C's – Cleaning, Cooking, and Cliff. In that order. She had a cute kind of... budding romance with the shy traveler, even though both were usually too scared to make a move.

Elli... he couldn't say he'd talked to Elli a huge amount. She was always locked up in the clinic, and it was rarely that Jack felt the need to go there. Besides, what was he even saying? She was heavily involved with the Doctor; had been for a long time, and marriage rumors were starting to fly about the two of them. He was _not _stepping into the middle of that gossip haven.

He was just downright scared of Popuri, at times. She was so over-eager to say the right thing and do the right thing – when she was around him, she finished every sentence with 'right, Jack?' and it was getting to be a little too much. Apparently she had a boyfriend-type who only visited in the summer, though Jill had told him the guy was a huge flirt – a bigger flirt than Jack, she'd actually said. He'd see for himself come summer.

Finally, there was Mary, and not much to say about her. She was just... completely confusing, which was both strange and annoying – because women in general _didn't _confuse him. She didn't, and never had, seemed interested in him. It was complete and total indifference, to tell the truth. Despite some good effort on his part, she just gave off the impression that if he jumped off a cliff or drowned at sea, it wouldn't affect _her_ life in any way at all.

The most irritating thing about it was that the more she acted like Jack was no interest to her, the more interesting _she _became to Jack. Damn reverse psychology. Or... something to that effect.

But he was just going to take a break. Finish up with romance and dating for awhile, and focus on... the other things in the world, like...

...

Well, he'd work it out.

"Jack!" Jill's voice shrieked into his thoughts, making him start slightly, "Come outside! It's fantastic!" Almost laughing, he grabbed a coat from a hook next to the door and walked outside – only to be hit in the face with a snowball as soon as he opened the door.

"Huh," he said, standing up tall and trying to look as dignified as possible with snow dripping down his chin. Slowly, he ducked down, packing the snow together and taking aim at his little sister. "You asked for it."

**xxx**

As the library's front door swung open, the librarian's head snapped up, her heart beating quickly with the vain, hopeless possibility that today, Gray would come through those doors for the first time in a month.

But obviously the Harvest Goddess must have been smiling on her little library, because true to Mary's wishes, a familiar UMA hat and sullen-looking blacksmith crossed through the door quietly.

"Gray," she said softly, unable to completely stop a smile from spreading across her face. "Hi. It's... really nice to see you."

"Hi Mary," he shot back gruffly. "How are you?"

"I'm great," she told him truthfully, her smile growing a little larger through no fault or will of her own. "I'm... really great. What did you want to read today?" she stood up, crossing the room to the shelves behind her and running one hand over the well-read novels. "We have some new stuff in, actually. I thought you might like this –"

"We need to talk."

It turned out that there was a reason for the old cliché; that those four words put together made the worst sentence in the English language. Mary's blood turned to ice inside her chest as she froze on the spot, staring blindly at the books in front of her. "... Pardon?" she asked, forcing herself to turn towards the blacksmith. His eyes were fixed on her steadily; his face completely unflinching.

"We need to talk, Mary," he repeated slowly. "About... this. Us."

"Can't it wait?" she begged quickly, eager to postpone the inevitable, if even for a day. "It's just, I have to sort all these books, then... uh, I need to go to the supermarket for Mom while she's at the Square, and... I need to remind Dad to eat lunch, because he's in one of his heavy research phases, so if we could hold the talk off for just a week or so –"

"It can't wait," he told her, his voice rough. "You know it can't."

A long silence followed before Mary exhaled slowly, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other until she could sit down weakly at her desk. "Go on, then," she mumbled, bringing a trembling hand up to her forehead.

"We both knew this wasn't going anywhere," Gray said, his eyes closed, his head ducked towards the ground and his voice far, far too gentle when compared with his cutting words. "I just think – oh Goddess, Mary, don't cry..."

"I'm not crying," she replied stiffly, her head buried in her hands.

"I wasn't leading you on. I did like you, but –"

"I get it." Her eyes came up to meet his slowly. "Please, I... I don't want you to explain. I know why, so... you don't have to sugarcoat anything, but if we could drop the whole subject –"

"You don't get it, though," the blacksmith interrupted, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "You wouldn't understand." He took a hesitant step towards her, but didn't go any closer than that. "I've... read enough novels in here to know that 'it's not you' is really overdone, but it's _not _you, Mary. I don't know what I can say. You can't possibly understand what I –"

"I said I get it," she snapped, her eyes coming up to meet his furiously. As soon as she spoke, she looked almost afraid; not recognizing nor liking the concentrated bitterness and anger in her own voice. "I can see it," she began quietly, trying to get back some sense of composure. She managed a wavery half-smile, but her hands stayed clenched in tight fists to channel at least some tiny part of the hurt. "You like her."

"I love her."

Silence. Agonizing, truthful, unwanted silence to follow his quickly spoken remark. The deep frown on Gray's face showed that his words had shocked himself just as much as they had shocked Mary. To add insult to injury, he repeated himself. "I... love her." He seemed to be saying it to himself more than to the librarian, and his forehead creased with the possibility of his own words.

"You can't," Mary told him hurriedly – anxiously. "You've only known her for three seasons... she's just... still a novelty. It's a crush. It'll go away... if you let it."

"I want to be near her all the time," he said quietly, staring at the ground and shaking his head with his overwhelming realization "Everything she does is just – I just always want to be with her, and that's something I've never had before." _Then _he glanced up, blushing furiously. "I – sorry, that wasn't –"

"It's okay," she choked, her heart pounding. Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult, and honestly, all she needed to do right now was get Gray to _leave_, quickly. "Look, I'm fine, but... if I could have a minute to myself..."

"I can stay," he offered reluctantly. "You really don't look well."

"No, it's fine. Please Gray, just... give me a moment." Nothing was registering all that deeply – everything around her felt a little hazy, just like a bad dream. And this particular nightmare wasn't going to leave until Gray did.

The blacksmith's eyes were fixed on her worriedly. "I'm so sorry, Mary," he mumbled before crossing back out the front door.

If anything, his leaving made the pain more acute. Clenching her fists again, Mary gave a small whimper and briefly acknowledged the fact that her nightmare was steadily getting worse – and she was left wondering when on earth she was finally going to wake up.

**xxx**

"Jill?" Gray called somewhat anxiously, striding onto the property that she owned with her brother. "Jill? I need to talk to – oh. Hey, um, Jack."

"Hey. What's up?" Jack asked, watching Gray almost suspiciously, as if he was going to grab the nearby crops and make a run for it. "What do you need?"

"I wanted to – I need to talk to Jill," he replied gruffly. "If that's alright – I mean, convenient for her."

Jack frowned. "I'm not sure where she –"

"Hi Gray," a cheerful voice called from behind the two of them. They turned to see Jill walking up the path from the forest, shivering even bundled in her winter coat. "How are you?"

"Yeah, good," he said, pulling his hat down to cover the light blush on his face. "You?"

"Freezing," she laughed. "Here, come inside – I can't talk out here, I'll get pneumonia or something." She beckoned for him to follow her inside, leaving a somewhat puzzled Jack out in the cold. "Sorry the place is such a mess," she added, biting her lip at the shocking state of the house.

"Did your wardrobe explode?" Gray asked incredulously, his gaze traveling over the most clothes he'd ever seen in one place. Jill had to laugh, her cheeks coloring as she shook her head.

"Not exactly. It's just... when I came to Mineral Town, I brought all my stuff with me... but all this got lost, and Jack called up and got the delivery people to find them. And I guess I'm having a little too much fun playing dress-ups, and reuniting with them."

"Reuniting?" Gray scoffed, a smirk crossing his face. See, _this _was why he had such strong feelings for her – even now, when he had more reason than ever to be shy around her, she made conversation so damn easy. He never needed to force himself to talk around her – he _wanted _to talk when he was around her.

"Yeah," she shrugged, looking mock-offended. "Of course... some of these things are pretty special to me. Like, here –" she tentatively walked over a mountain of dresses and picked up a nearby pale pink scarf. "My host family gave me this when I went to Japan on exchange. And this?" She held up a pale blue dress that fell to her knees. "I was a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding."

"And what's the story behind that?" he teased, pointing to a wide-brimmed straw hat that was nearly falling apart. Jill stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll have you know, that saved me from many painful sunburns at the beach when I was younger. And here –" she held up a knitted, well-worn green sweater with more than a few holes in it, "This kept me warm through a whole lot of cold winter days. Of course, she's well past the prime of her life by now, but how could I throw her out?"

"I'm surprised you haven't named all your clothes," Gray said, shaking his head in disbelief. Jill raised one eyebrow in challenge.

"Who says I haven't? Well, okay," she shook her head, smiling. "I haven't named anything personally, but Tom named the shoes I wore to our senior prom. Here..." she crossed the room again, stumbling dangerously a few times before triumphantly holding up a beautiful pair of silver heels and making her way back. "This one was Rachel, and this one was Sandra. Tom was always..." As quickly as it had appeared, the smile on her face faded and her small hands clenched around the shoes. "But, you know, I guess I could start to throw some of this stuff out." She miraculously got to the kitchen over the random piles, pulling out the rubbish bin and chucking the shoes in with more force than necessary. "So, um," she continued, bringing one hand up to her head and closing her eyes for a brief moment, "Did you come to talk about something, or...?"

"No," he said quickly. It was delicate, what he needed to say to her, and he wasn't about to come out with it at a bad time like this. "Actually... I've got to get something from the supermarket, so –"

"You sure?" Jill asked, frowning slightly. "If you want to stay for lunch or something –"

"See you soon," he cut in, backing out the front door before she could convince him otherwise. Jack walked in and leaned against the door frame, shooting a slightly amused glance over his shoulder. "What the heck did you do to make the poor guy leave so quickly?"

"I don't know," Jill frowned. "That was weird, actually." Jack frowned right back at her, making his way through the piles of clothes and stumbling in to the kitchen.

"Are you right with sandwiches for lunch?" he called, receiving an absent-minded nod. He pulled a lettuce out of the fridge, tearing off the outer leaves and throwing them into the bin. "Jill?" he said after a long pause, "... What are your shoes doing in the bin?"

"I threw them out," she replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "I'm going to get rid of everything that's tying me to Tom."

There was a long pause as Jack stared at the shoes in his hand, his brain ticking over. "Ah, Jill... you didn't... happen to throw these out _while_ Gray was here?"

"Yeah," Jill said, glancing at her brother as if he'd said something utterly pointless. "A few seconds before he left. Why?"

Jack bit his lip, then crossed the room to sit down on the couch and patted the spot next to him, symbolizing that Jill should sit too. She did, looking slightly wary as she tilted her head at him. "What's up?"

"Okay... Jill, I'll say this in the nicest possible way – your observation skills suck. Like, _suck_. Right?" He stared at her as if waiting for a reply, then, realizing that she wasn't going to agree, he rushed on. "But you've always been kind of... sensitive to other people's feelings, which I know totally contradicts what I just said – but I'm just wondering, what are you planning on doing about Gray?"

She blinked at him a few times. "Uh... nothing? Why?"

Jack froze, not sure whether or not she was kidding. "You do know what I'm talking about, right?"

"I have no clue," she confessed. Jack raised his eyebrows and glanced at the ceiling, silently asking for patience.

"He likes you. A lot. Don't tell me you haven't noticed tha–"

"Oh my Goddess," she exhaled suddenly, pressing her palm to her forehead. "Not you as well. I've had people telling me so for weeks now, and to tell you the truth, it's getting really frustrating. He doesn't, Jack. We're... friends."

"And does he know that?"

"Of course he does!"

"To tell you the truth," Jack said impatiently, "I wouldn't blame him if he believed that you felt the same way. If you're not interested in him at all, maybe you shouldn't have been _quite _so friendly." There was a snap to his words, his eyes looking suddenly cold. "You, of all people, know what it's like to be hurt by someone you have feelings for –"

"How _dare _you," she whispered suddenly, pushing to her feet. "How dare you. You don't know what you're talking about. Gray doesn't like me – he can't like me – he can't."

"Why can't he?" Jack countered. "Because you don't want him to?"

"Because I can't handle it," she threw back bitterly. "I don't – I'm not comfortable with this. You really think I'm ready for any sort of relationship?" She choked on her own words, shaking her head. "I don't need to listen to this – you're wrong. I know you're wrong. He and I are... just friends, and I don't want to deal with your damn speculation. You're as bad as Manna – you know what, why am I even arguing with you about this? You're wrong."

"You're acting pretty defensive for someone who's so sure I'm wrong."

Muffling a noise of disgust under her breath, Jill turned and stormed out the front door. "It's snowing, you idiot!" Jack called in annoyance, not receiving a reply.

In his opinion, Jill was in denial. Not just about Gray's feelings – but about her own. He'd _seen _the way she smiled at the blacksmith, and it wasn't a smile that she gave to just anyone. Unfortunately, it was no use Jack acknowledging it if Jill wouldn't. He could be completely wrong – but whether he was wrong or right, he had an awful feeling that this wasn't going to turn out well.

**xxx**

Jill sniffed as she sat angrily on a bench in Rose Square. She was cold and the idea of curling up in front of the fire was so tempting that she nearly turned around and walked straight back home, but after a few moments she crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. Better to die of hypothermia.

She looked up and blinked, noticing a shadowy figure stumbling towards her through the snow. Her immediate thought was an urgent visit back to her high school's compulsory self-defense classes, but it soon became apparent that she wasn't a main priority for the person in front of her as he stopped still. "Hey," she called, her teeth chattering. "Are you okay?" The person looked up at the sky exhaled slowly, and upon standing up to get a closer look, Jill realized with a start that it was Cliff. "Cliff? What the heck are you doing?"

He stared at Jill for a few moments, his eyes strangely blank. "It..." he began hesitantly, his gaze traveling upwards again. "Was snowing... the day I left home."

Jill laughed nervously. "Cliff, you're kind of freaking me out, I – oh my Goddess! Cliff?" She ran to his side, dropping to her knees where he'd fallen forward in the snow. "This isn't funny, you hear me? Get up! Please – please get up –" she glanced around in a panic, her eyes falling on something like a piece of paper clenched in his hand. The dye from her jeans starting to seep and color the snow blue, she quickly took it out of his hand and replaced it with her own hand, squeezing lightly. "I'm going to get help, okay?" she said frantically, not even sure if he could hear her as she scrambled to her feet and made a run for the inn.

She stumbled a few times on her way – if there was one thing that never failed to make a fool of her in her school days, it was track – but eventually she hit the door with her shoulder and ran to the bar, slamming both hands down on it and trying to quickly catch her breath. Ann gave her a funny smile.

"Hey Jill," she said, raising an eyebrow at the blonde's frazzled state. "What's up?"

"Cliff collapsed," she choked out, shaking her head at the ground and balling her hands into fists. "He's out there in the snow, I... I think he's really sick, Ann –"

"What?" Ann said after a brief pause, the color draining from her face as quickly as it had from Jill's jeans. "Are you serious? I..." Jill nodded sharply and Ann turned on her heel. "Dad! DAD! Where?" she said as she turned back to Jill, her voice shaky. "Where is he?"

"Ann, what are you yelling and screaming about?" Doug growled, storming out of the kitchen.

"Rose Square," Jill said, half in a daze. "Cliff – he's fainted out at Rose Square."

Doug was staring blankly at the blonde, and Ann eventually snapped. "Are you deaf, Dad?" she said aggressively. "Do you want her to write it down? You want photo evidence? Come _on_! Get some people to help you – Jill, come with me." The redhead sprinted out of the inn at a speed that Jill couldn't hope to match in her dreams, so the blonde arrived at the entrance to Rose Square in time to see Ann drop to her knees beside Cliff's unmoving form, trying in vain to lift him with shaking hands.

"Ann, move!" she was pushed aside roughly by Doug, Duke and Harris as they raced into the square, who lifted the boy easily and carried him up to the clinic. A sidewards glance informed Jill of the fact that Ann was crying – possibly a first, and a rather confronting thing to see.

Luckily, Elli and Tim had been standing outside wanting to see what the cause of all the commotion was. Tim didn't even flinch when he saw Cliff, simply instructed the men quietly that they should take him inside and lay him on the emergency bed. Elli held Jill and Ann back when they tried to follow.

"Girls," Elli pleaded, "I know you want to be there for him – but there's no place for emotions in an emergency like this. It's only going to distress you both." Jill opened her mouth furiously to retort, but was stopped by Elli simply holding up one hand. "Please," she said softly. Without another word, the nurse went inside and Jill was left trying to calm down a certain near-hysterical waitress.

**xxx**

Jack sat in the inn, a glass of wine in his hand as he gazed into the distance. Gray sat opposite him, staring at his feet. He had seen Jack walk into the inn looking nervous, and asked what was wrong – only to be told that it had been hours since Jack had seen his sister.

In normal circumstances, the information would have been slightly worrying... but with the snow falling heavily outside and the sky already black even though it was only seven, both boys were inwardly panicking and trying their best to appear composed.

"Where could she be...?" Jack murmured to Gray, still staring blankly ahead.

"I don't know," he coughed in reply.

The door was flung open and Elli walked in with her trademark bright smile on her face. "Hello Doug," she sang. "Is Ann here?"

The bartender nodded. "In her room. Jill's with her – they've worked themselves into an upset frenzy, the poor things."

Gray and Jack both sat up a little straighter, but determinedly avoided the other's eye out of embarrassment.

"Oh no," Elli said, grimacing. "I just came by to tell them that Cliff is going to be just fine. The Doctor thinks that he collapsed due to exhaustion – and he'll need to rest at the clinic for a few days – but there's really not anything seriously wrong as far as Tim can tell," she finished with another smile.

Jack stood up, his mouth set in a firm line. "Can I go see my sister, Doug?" he asked. "I'll tell her and Ann about Cliff."

"As long as Ann will let you boys in her room," Doug teased, wiping the inside of a glass. Jack quickly walked into the kitchen, down the hallway, and knocked on Ann's bedroom door with Gray close behind him.

"Come in," Ann's voice choked. Jack pushed the door open and sighed as he saw Ann in tears, while Jill had one arm around her shoulders and was obviously trying to pacify her.

"Jack, now isn't the time –" Jill snapped, before she was interrupted.

"Cliff's okay," Jack said, glaring at his sister. "He apparently... collapsed because of exhaustion, and has to stay in the clinic for a bit, but it isn't serious." Ann exhaled, slumping down in relief, and Jill gaped at her brother.

"How do you know?" she asked quickly. "Who told you?" Jack explained to Jill that he'd been waiting in the main area, wondering where she was, before Elli had come in.

"Are you okay, Ann?" Gray asked quietly, reminding everybody that he was there. She nodded and sniffed.

"I'm fine," she said with a forced, cheerful grin. "I don't know why I was crying, I – I guess I stayed up too late last night or something." Her voice sounded unsure, like she was trying to convince herself that _that _was the reason for her display of emotion rather than, Goddess forbid, actually having strong feelings for Cliff.

"He's going to be fine," Jack told her with a smile. He turned to the blonde, his expression hardening slightly. "Jill... do you want to stay here for awhile, or do you want to go home?"

"I'll stay with Ann for awhile," Jill retorted coldly.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll be at the bar when you're ready to go."

"I don't need you to babysit me," she hissed, narrowing her eyes in disbelief. Gray intelligently muttered his goodbyes and walked out. "I've lived by myself for months and months. Just go home!"

Jack surveyed her with a dry, unamused expression. "It's snowing, it's windy and it's dark. You're not walking home by yourself, and that's not up for negotiation. Don't be such a child. I'll be at the bar."

Drowning out Jill's furious protests, he walked out and sat down firmly at the bar, muffling an exasperated noise. Not well enough, apparently, as Karen walked over and took her place in the seat next to him. "What's wrong?" she asked, her green eyes curious.

Jack shook his head. "Nothing, just... a little argument with my sister."

"Oh," she said, waving one hand casually. "That's too bad. You want to talk about it?"

"No, thanks," Jack smiled, shaking his head. "I'll just be here for while." He knew his sister, and now that she was in one of _these _moods, she'd probably stay here for as long as she could just to annoy him. Karen's eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically with a hurried thank you.

She talked for a long time – incidentally, growing more and more animated with every drink she downed. At least she was amusing, Jack thought to himself – she was constantly cracking jokes that, to be completely truthful, weren't funny in the slightest – but the way she made herself laugh hysterically was more than enough to keep him laughing too.

An hour, possibly two, had passed before Rick came in and sat down on Karen's other side. As if on cue, Jill walked out of the back room and then out of the inn without so much as a glance in her brother's direction, and Jack had no choice but to call a general goodbye and race after Jill. He caught up easily but stayed around two metres behind her for most of the walk back. He called out to her a few times but she determinedly refused to face him – and when he got home, he was just about ready to rip his little sister to pieces.

**xxx**

"It's not funny," Jack growled, approaching his sister who was sitting nonchalantly on the couch. "It's _not _funny. Do you have any idea how much damn stress you've caused me? I've been worried sick about you all day!" Completely exasperated, he walked into the kitchen where that morning's neglected dishes awaited washing.

Jill rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You're acting like Mom."

"And you're acting like Veronica," he shot back, regretting the words the moment he said them. He bit his lip as the color drained from Jill's face. "Look, you know I didn't –"

"Don't ever, _ever_," she snarled, "Tell me I'm anything _like _that..." she let slip a word that made her brother promptly drop the stack of plates he was carrying to the sink.

"Don't you dare use language like that!"

"Don't _you _dare tell me what to do!" she challenged. "You're not Mom, and you're not Dad. Just who the hell do you think you are anyway?"

"Who do I think I am," he scoffed, slamming his hand down on the bench and glaring at his sister. "I'll tell you who I _know _I am. I'm the only one that ever gave a damn about you. Where do you honestly think you'd be if I hadn't been there to support you through everything that happened?"

"Shut _up_! How can you suggest you're the only one who cared? There was..."

"Who, Tom?"

An almost painful silence fell between the two. Jill, her face stony but somehow conveying incredible hurt, turned around quietly and started getting ready for bed. Jack sat down weakly at the tiny kitchen table.

"Sorry for that," he mumbled, staring at his hands. Jill ignored him, turned off the light, and got into bed. Her brother sat there in the dark for a few moments longer, before stating:

"You're right, Jill. I'm not the only one who ever cared about you. But I'm the one who cared the most."

**xxx**


	18. Chapter 18

**xxx**

_"Jack, help Jillian pack up her things, will you, sweetie?"_

_"Mommm! I don't wanna go!" Jill begged, clinging to her mother's leg. "I like it here! I like my friends, and my school, and this house, and..."_

_"I know, I know. You've told me before, remember? This morning? Now go with your brother." Jack extended a hand for his little sister to take._

_"Come on, Jill," he coaxed. "It'll be exciting to go somewhere new!" With a sniff, the tiny blonde clutched her brother's hand and followed him._

_"But I'll miss everyone..."_

_"I know. But there'll be even more people where we move to – you can be friends with them. And I'll still be with you!"_

_She wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Promise?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"But... what about Kate and –"_

_"We can still write them letters, and call them up on the phone," he interrupted. "Besides, we'll have different neighbors that will probably be just as nice."_

_Jill glared at her brother in disbelief. "No way," she pouted. "No-one can be as nice as them." Jack shrugged, pulling some shirts out of his sister's dresser and throwing them into an open suitcase. "__**Why**_ _do we have to go?" Jill wailed at the top of her lungs._

"_Don't yell, Jill," Jack winced. "You know why." She just blinked at him, her bottom lip wavering and her big eyes full of confusion. He sighed, explaining for the tenth time – that day. "Daddy has to go to his new job and... it's a long way away, so we have to go to a new house. And this way, we will have more money, and that means that you can buy lots more paper and write letters back here whenever you want. We won't forget them and they won't forget us – not ever."_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Have I ever lied to you, Jill?"_

**xxx**

It had been two long days since their fight, but Jack and Jill still weren't talking properly.

Jack scowled to himself as he shoveled snow away from the path leading to their house. He wasn't exactly mad at his sister anymore, and he knew that she wasn't angry at him either... but unfortunately, being stubborn was a trait that the siblings shared - which obviously, made a proper apology from either out of the question.

"I'm going around to Popuri's," Jill called through the open window. She had made a point of telling her brother all of her plans beforehand, in order to prevent another blow up.

"Huh," Jack grunted in reply, digging the shovel into a particularly large mound of snow. He didn't need his sister to tell him _everything_ she was doing - it made him feel guilty for not trusting her to take care of herself. He shook his head and busied himself with the task at hand. Unlike Jill, Jack was a natural at farming - caring for animals, clearing land, growing crops - he could do it. And, more importantly, he loved doing it. While Jill was obviously in Mineral Town for the social side - a close knit, friendly community - Jack was in it just as much for the farming as anything else.

"I'm going," a bright voice called, interrupting his thoughts as he watched Jill race off towards the Poultry Farm.

**xxx**

"Popuri? I'm here!" Jill called, walking in without waiting for a reply. It was normal to do that in Mineral Town – while in the city, people who did that would very quickly end up hospitalized. "Popuri?"

"Jill," Rick said, walking downstairs. "Hey..."

"Hi, Rick," she smiled. "I'm, uh... here to see your sister."

He looked thoughtful for a brief moment, then shook his head. "It's Sunday, so Popuri's probably at the church. And I've just come back from walking Mom to the clinic. So... it's just me here." He glanced to the side nervously, as if he couldn't hold eye-contact with the blonde for too long.

"That's kind of annoying," Jill said with an awkward laugh. "I've been so busy lately, and today I didn't have any plans... Popuri wanted me to see her new dress, for her twentieth birthday next year, so I came by."

"Oh, right," Rick said as he rolled his eyes, a tiny smile making its way onto his face. "I'm just about ready to take a pair of scissors to that dress. She hasn't stopped parading around in it all week – this morning Mom told her that it'd get ripped or dirty if she doesn't stop wearing it, so she finally put it away. It'll be out again when she gets back from church though, I guarantee you." Jill giggled, then silence enveloped them.

He wasn't going to deny the fact that he fell for her a little more every day, and she wasn't going to pretend that she didn't notice. Did it put a massive strain on their friendship? Yes, it did. Even now – both of them glancing everywhere in the room apart from each-other – the tension was almost agonizing.

"I haven't had the chance to talk to you since your birthday party, you know," Rick coughed as Jill nodded, biting her lip. "I never... you looked stunning."

Her gaze dropping to the floor immediately, Jill attempted a smile. "Thank you. The dress... it belonged to Ann's mother, and it was just amazing. It would have made anyone look gorgeous."

"I don't know anyone who would have looked as beautiful," he said quickly, his face coloring and looking slightly regretful as soon as the words had been said. For good reason, apparently, as Jill pushed to her feet and started walking towards the door.

"Well, I... it was really good talking to you," she said quietly, taking another step towards the front door. "I think – yeah, I left something in the oven at home. If I burn it Jack probably won't ever let me cook again." She gave a painfully fake laugh. "So I should... you know."

"You don't have to go," he apologized, taking a step towards her. "I – I shouldn't have said that. It's making things weird."

"What's weird?" Jill asked in a strange, high-pitched voice. "Nothing's weird, I – I just have to... get the thing out of the oven. Yeah. It's not weird, Rick, don't worry. I – ah." Ducking her head, she took yet another step towards the door.

Rick bit his lip, looking disappointed and slightly ashamed. "You know you're always welcome here. Come back... when you can."

"I will, Rick," she said as she glanced back over her shoulder. "When I can." She made a hasty exit, closing her eyes and bringing one hand up to her forehead as soon as she was out of sight. She didn't feel like going home, and she definitely didn't feel like socializing in town. After a brief pause, she turned in the opposite direction – towards Mother's Hill – hoping that a walk would clear her aching head.

_I hate doing this to him._

It wasn't her fault. It couldn't be her fault, that Rick had fallen for her – she'd never tried to give the impression that she wanted to be more than friends – as far as she could see, nothing she'd done could really be interpreted as that.

_It's not that he isn't a sweet guy,_ she thought with a grimace, _But he's... making things so complicated, and the Goddess knows I'm not in a place to deal with that. Rick... Rick isn't Tom. _And that was as simplified as it was going to get. Rick wasn't Tom – and nobody else, she was sure, could be the right one for her.

She exhaled slowly, clenching and releasing her hands as she stared out at the town from her spot on the peak of Mother's Hill. So tiny, she couldn't even see the people walking around below her. It looked like a storybook village from up here – like it should be full of rosy-cheeked children and cookie-baking housewives with aprons. Not a rejected, bitter, messed-up city girl and her brother.

"Jill." The greeting was curt; no frills, just a notification that someone was speaking specifically to her. The blonde nearly fell off the mountain in her shock, as both hands flew up to her chest and she gracelessly choked on air.

"Gray," she said with an embarrassed smile. "Goddess – you gave me such a fright."

"Sorry." There wasn't a trace of humor in his voice or eyes as he watched Jill – only determination, and something else that she didn't – or, in perspective – _wouldn't_ notice. "I – I saw you coming in this direction... when I was at work. I have something that I... need to tell you."

Jill frowned. "Uh... yeah, okay," she said, raising an eyebrow as she shrugged. "Go for it."

He coughed slightly and glanced down at his feet, undeniably adorable – even with the sinking feeling Jill had was experiencing. "I... do you remember when we went to the Full Moon festival together?" he asked hurriedly. Jill looked taken-aback.

"Of course I do."

"We were –" he glanced to the side, as if he were expecting or hoping for someone to come by and say his words for him. "We were sitting right in that spot, there. And you asked me –" his voice faltered and he balled his fists, just trying to get through it. "If I could remember a... huge change in my life. Something that made my life better."

"And you said... you didn't think anything good came from a big change," Jill said quietly, nodding. "I remember, yeah."

"Yeah. I didn't... believe that _any _sort of change could be a good thing. I thought that... any drastic change would bring something bad, even if there was a little bit of good mixed in." His cheeks coloring slightly, he forced himself to meet Jill's confused eyes. "I... kind of think that maybe... I was wrong. Maybe some changes _are_ all good."

"Well, I – that's fantastic," she said, her forehead creasing. "It's really great that something..." She paused. "Can I ask what happened, exactly? What's this... big change?"

He hesitated, arriving at the moment that he'd been both anticipating and fearing. Mostly fearing. Just one word – just three letters – and possibly one of the biggest turning points in his life.

"You."

The word was said hurriedly; rushed out of his mouth before his tongue could stumble over it. Jill looked... well, shocked – and Gray pulled his hat down over his burning face. "I don't understand," she eventually said in utter confusion.

Oh, Goddess. She was going to make him explain.

"I... don't know how it happened this fast," he murmured, his eyes closed tightly as if he were scared to see the look on her face more than he was afraid of her replying words. "Hell, I didn't know it _could_ – but I know myself, now. More – much more – than I knew myself before you came along. You've changed me without meaning to, and I... I like it. I like myself now, and you're the only one I can thank for that." He drew in a deep breath, more words pressing to leave his mouth. "You... were my change for the better," he shrugged. "I just – I guess I'm happier now. So, uh... what do you... think?"

Upon daring to glance up, the knot in his chest relinquished drastically. Jill was smiling – beaming, really, her eyes sparkling. She reached out for one of his hands and squeezed tight.

"That's," she began softly, shaking her head, "No-one's ever... bothered, I guess... to say anything like that to me before. I don't think you realize how much it means to me." She smiled at the ground, her eyes closing briefly. "I guess I should just tell you that... I hope we're always friends like this. I appreciate you too, you know – so much. After everything I went through at home, having a friend like you to rely on is so important to me."

As quickly as it had lifted, his heart sank again. "Jill... I don't think you understood me."

She raised an almost amused eyebrow at him. "Didn't understand you? We're best friends, right?"

"I don't... _want _to be your best friend," he stammered. "I mean, I do – I guess you _are _my best friend, but I – love you."

The frozen look on her face left no doubts as to whether or not she understood now. Her bright eyes had widened and comprehension had dawned in them; her mouth was slightly open in disbelief.

"You – I..." she began to stutter, before shutting herself up and turning away from him to stare across Mineral Town for a few moments. Mere seconds – but to Gray, the longest and easily the most agonizing time he had ever waited for anything. "I don't know what to tell you."

"Just tell me the truth," he said gruffly, the sickening pounding of his heart pointing out to him as clear as day that the truth was something he probably didn't want to hear. Jill turned back to him, and a single tear fell from her blue eyes.

"I don't feel the same," she whispered.

Gray nodded silently and took a step back from her. "Okay."

"It's not that you aren't a great guy," she told him, an almost pleading tone to her voice. "The Goddess knows that I love you, just... not in that way. I can't afford any more complications right now." She absent-mindedly registered that snow had started falling around them lightly; she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as Gray glanced up at her with pure, unbridled hurt in his eyes.

"A complication," he scoffed. "Is... that it? A complication?"

"No!" Jill insisted, shaking her head wildly. "You know I don't mean it like that – I just... Gray, I really love you as a friend. A best friend."

Trying to calm himself and more than a little afraid that, in his pain, he would snap at her and say something inconsiderate – he took a few seconds to think. He'd read books in the library for years – he'd... seen this situation a hundred times, even if he hadn't thought he'd ever be stupid enough to be facing it himself. But, more often than not, all the person needed was time.

"Do you..." he began slowly, "Think that you'd ever be able see me as more? With... with time, I mean."

But those books were fictional, and this was real life.

"Truthfully?" Jill responded, barely thinking the words before saying them, "I don't know. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see you as anything more than I see you right now. But... I don't think so. I really doubt it."

Gray took a step away from her. "... Really."

"I –" she hesitated, biting down on her lip as she lowered her voice. "Listen Gray, don't do this to me. Please. I can't cope with this right now, I mean... you know everything – _everything –_ that happened to me thanks to Tom." Saying the name of her ex-boyfriend seemed to incense her, her voice taking a sudden, almost violent rise in volume. "Frankly, I don't even _wish _I could love you. Damn it Gray, screw love! I want nothing to do with it – I don't want to love _anyone _ever again. It brings nothing but... pain." She regretted it as soon as she said it, but regret wouldn't take back the damage that her thoughtless, rushed words had already caused.

She could actually pinpoint the moment when Gray's eyes clouded over and froze – when something in his attitude had gone back to the way it was when she'd first met him. "Yeah," he said dryly, "I know that now." A bitter smirk crossed his face. "I guess I was right about change. I'm sorry I wasted your time – and I'm sorry I wasted mine." He turned and walked away from her, down Mother's Hill, leaving Jill standing at the peak.

**xxx**

"Hey. How was Popuri?" Jack asked, turning around as he heard the front door close. His little sister stood still in the doorway, her eyes surrounded by a red rim. "Goddess, what happened?" he muttered, crossing the room in about three steps to grasp her shoulders tightly.

"Gray..." she mumbled, squinting her eyes shut and bringing one shaky hand up to press against her head.

"What's wrong? What happened to Gray?"

"He loves me," she blurted out. "He said he loved me, he – you were right, and I just... I crushed him, Jack. I got all defensive over Tom and thinking about that and –"

"Slow down," Jack said impatiently, patting her blonde hair as she buried her head in his shoulder. "Gray... said he loved you, and you – oh." He winced – sure, he'd seen this moment coming for a while now, but it was still sad to hear. His heart went out to the poor blacksmith, and at the same time... he couldn't bring himself to blame Jill in the slightest. "Tell me how it happened," he instructed, walking into the kitchen to make a cup of tea for Jill as she recited the sequence of events that had led to this.

"– And then I said something like... I don't even wish I could love you, and then he... he just looked heartbroken, Jack." She rested her head on her hands and groaned. "He said... that he was sorry he wasted my time, and he's sorry he wasted his. And I don't think I'm ever going to forget those words. I mean... Goddess, did I... really lead him to believe that anything could happen between us?"

"You've hurt him, Jill," her brother shrugged. "What did you expect, really? All... all you can do is show him that you really do want to be good friends. But I told you to expect this and you wouldn't listen to me –"

"You think I don't realize that?" she snapped, pushing to her feet and going to lie face-down on her bed.

"Look, I didn't mean to get you upset –"

"Go away," she mumbled, shaking her head. "I'm not mad at you, I just... want to be alone. Could you please go for a walk or something? Half an hour?"

"Fine," he nodded, grabbing his coat. "Just don't... go anywhere without telling me. I'm just going to walk through town for awhile, okay?" He got no reply, so he took one last, sympathetic glance at the distraught blonde, then left the room.

**xxx**

"Hi, Mary," Jack called wearily, stepping into the warm library. "How are you?"

She glanced up, her eyes almost alarmed behind her glasses. Nobody had come by yet that day – not something completely new for her, sure – but it had been that much harder now that she knew that there was _no _chance that today might be the day that Gray changed his mind. "Hi," she said shortly, getting to her feet. "What did you want?"

"A... book, I guess," Jack shrugged with a grin that wasn't returned. "This is a library, right?"

Looking reasonably unamused, she turned to face the shelves with her dark braid swinging behind her. "What kind of book?"

He looked confused by her apparent unwillingness to socialize. "Uh... I don't know. I need something... light, I guess. The last few days haven't exactly been a picnic."

"Tell me about it," the librarian mumbled as she browsed the shelf for a certain book. Something in the tone of her voice; the way she'd said it – sarcastically, but with a hint of desperation – made Jack stand up a little straighter and look at her a little closer. She was biting down on her bottom lip and didn't seem to be concentrating in the slightest as she glanced through the shelves.

"Are you –" he began, shaking his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He could swear she almost laughed, before shaking her head and staring at the ground. "Do you?" she asked, only able to imagine his reaction if she started giving him a sob story about her messed up love life – that featured his baby sister throughout a whole lot of it.

Jack seemed to be contemplating her offer, before sighing and shrugging. "I guess... everyone's going to find out – and it's probably better if I tell you what I know, without pointless gossip mixed in – right?" Vaguely interested, Mary stopped searching the shelves and returned to sit down at her desk. "Do you know a guy called Gray?"

She froze. "Yes..."

Jack bit his lip and glanced at the bookshelves for a moment. "He's... I guess you could say he's had a thing for my sister for awhile now." Unable to meet his eye, Mary nodded at her hands. "He told her that... well, that he loved her. This morning. She had to tell him that she didn't feel the same, and now she's pretty upset."

"She rejected him?" Mary choked, pushing herself up from the chair in what was possibly the most sudden movement that library had ever seen. "Why?"

"She didn't feel the same, I guess," Jack said, a deep frown on his face at Mary's reaction.

"But – no, she does," she shot back desperately, feeling horribly dizzy all of a sudden. "She does, I've... I've seen them together; I've seen _her –_ she..." her voice trailed off; when she started speaking again, there was a dangerous note to it. "She was... leading him on?"

"I wouldn't call it that," Jack said, a trace of humor in his voice and on his face. "She didn't ask for it – she didn't _want _him to fall for her. My heart goes out to the guy, really, but... Jill's pretty cut up about it."

"Oh, the poor thing," Mary wavered furiously, trying to keep her tone calm. "I feel so sorry for her." Jack frowned, taking a step closer.

"Why would you say it like that?" he asked in confusion. "It's not Jill's fault; she just... what's your problem with it anyway?"

"Not her fault," the librarian scoffed, nodding bitterly. "You might be able to fill me in, then – whose fault was it, exactly?"

"Don't," Jack snapped. "Don't you dare go judging my sister on things that you don't understand. She's hurting; she's been hurting for a long time."

"I'm hurting too," she shot back, a trace of the emotion she'd been keeping bottled up finally showing. "Don't _you_ dare tell me that I don't understand – I understand a lot more than you do. Lots of people are hurting – obviously, Gray's hurting – but you wouldn't care about that, would you?" She shot a furious glance at the floor. "No, you wouldn't. As far as I can see, you and your sister only watch out for yourselves."

"That's not true," he challenged, eyes flashing. "You don't have to be such a snob."

"You don't have to be such a jerk," she scowled, her tiny hands clenched into fists. "Just – get out of my library." He didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed his jacket and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

**xxx**

"Gray. Where've you been, boy? I told you that you had five minutes to go talk to that girl. It's been at least half an hour!" Gray ignored his grandfather and began working on a hammer that needed upgrading. "Don't you ignore me," Saibara growled. "Why have you gone all moody all of a sudden? You haven't been like this for months!"

"Bad day," Gray offered sullenly.

"Why? Did you talk to Jill? What were you talking to her about? Look at me."

"Nothing."

"I said look at me!" Saibara growled. Gray turned to him, fists clenched. "You've been crying!"

"I have not," he shot back defensively, averting his gaze to the wall behind his grandfather.

"Oh yes you have," the old man snapped. "Don't lie to me. What's happened to you?"

"Would you mind your own business, old man!" Gray yelled, anticipating a heavy slap for raising his voice at his grandfather. He didn't get one however, and after a couple of seconds he looked up. When he saw Saibara gazing at him sorrowfully, it struck him just how old and tired he looked.

"Take the rest of the day off, Gray," he sighed. "Go have lunch at the inn and get some rest. You look... sick." At first Gray protested, but soon enough realized that he really didn't feel quite up to working.

"Okay. Thanks." he walked out quickly and did the path from the blacksmith's to the inn in record time.

Upon deciding that he actually did feel sick, he chose to skip lunch and just go to bed without dealing with anybody else. The idea was appealing, so you can imagine his horror when confronted by a miserable-looking girl sitting on his roommate's bed.

"Ann?" he coughed.

She jumped up in embarrassment. "Hi, Gray. I'm so sorry, I just... came up to bring some of Cliff's bags down to the clinic, and... I'll be right out of your way." She tilted her head as she finally got a good look at the blacksmith. "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" Ann laughed and Gray permitted a half-smile as they asked the same question at the same time.

"I'm fine," Ann replied with an over the top, fake grin. "I'm just... Cliff's pretty sick, and it's kind of sad to think about. What are you doing back here at this hour?"

"I was... tired," he answered shortly, unwilling to begin a deep and meaningful conversation with the loud-mouthed, tomboyish waitress. Even when she was in an apparent moment of rare compassion.

"Yeah," she said, tilting her head in concern. "You don't look well. Get some sleep, okay? If I see anyone coming upstairs, I'll... tell them that you don't want visitors, or something." She gave him another sympathetic smile. "Take care of yourself."

He had to roll his eyes as she left the room. It wasn't that her uncharacteristic concern wasn't kind of touching – just that sleep wasn't going to fix anything, except maybe the pounding in his head.

Did he feel like an idiot? Just a little. Mortification and pain were having a fierce battle to be his main emotion, but right now, it seemed like they'd settled for a tie. How could he have... interpreted things _so _badly?

Muffling a frustrated groan, he unlaced his boots and stripped off his jacket to get into bed – but his heart went into free fall as something floated from his pocket to the ground; just one more reminder of his horrifically idiotic assumptions. He walked across the room briskly with his teeth gritted, and in one swift movement, threw the blue feather out of the window.

**xxx**

Wrenching his jacket off furiously as he reached the farm, Jack's mind was working in overdrive. As much as he would like – _love –_ to be angry at the librarian, no questions asked... he couldn't be. She was out of line, dammit! She'd insulted him; insulted _Jill –_ and it was none of her damn business. Why should she defend Gray like that? Goddess, she didn't even _know _the blacksmith, did she? The only reason that he could see for her assumptions was an unfounded dislike towards Jill, and that... was unfair. She had no idea what Jill had been through with Veronica and Tom – how dare she judge her?

And still, as he headed into the house, something at the back of his mind was telling him that maybe – maybe there was something more to it. Jill was sitting at the kitchen table with a book and a bowl of cereal – comfort food.

"Short walk," Jill commented through a mouthful of cornflakes. She swallowed, frowning at her brother. "What's up? You look... angry." Her face paled. "You didn't say anything to Gray, did you?"

"Of course not," he mumbled, shaking his head. He stood still for a few moments, still puzzling over the librarian's behavior as he stared at his sister. "Jill... you know Mary?"

The hand bringing the spoon to her mouth froze in mid-air as she fixed Jack with a suspicious glance. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he scowled. "I'm just wondering if there's... anything that, uh... do you two get along?"

"I don't think she likes me all that much," the blonde said quietly, lowering her gaze. "We just haven't talked much. I don't know anything about her." She paused again, glancing in her brother's direction. "Except... I think there was something between her and Gray once. That's it." She frowned, reminding herself of the blacksmith. Jack stared at his sister in horror, the pieces finally fitting together.

"Oh no."

**xxx**


	19. Chapter 19

--

Jill slumped in relief as she found her seventh pair of stairs. She was hot, sweaty and utterly exhausted, yet... strangely content. She'd spent the whole morning searching for gems in the winter mine to give Gray for his birthday, and was finally almost happy with the selection she had found. Swinging her rucksack off her shoulder to find a place for the new stone, she realized that her bag was completely filled up.

"Goddess," she mumbled under her breath, bringing one hand up to her forehead. Yeah, it was Gray's birthday – and she didn't want to call it bribery, but something had to give. She hadn't even had a glimpse of him over the last three days, since their... incident. And realizing that she'd hurt him just before his birthday was doing nothing to ease her guilt. So... anything that could get them talking again was a good thing, in her eyes.

--

"That'll be, uh... 900G..."

"900G," Jill repeated slowly, closing her eyes for a moment. "Is there... any kind of discount that I could get on that?"

Jeff paled, stuttering slightly at the upfront question. "If y-you wrap ten things, it's ten percent off... but that would still be nine hundred, so I –"

"Yeah, okay," she interrupted, waving one hand and shaking out her purse. "It's... it's okay. I'll pay it." She counted the money out grudgingly, with a good amount of huffs and sighs as she did so. "Here, take it. I just hope Jack will lend me more."

"You could start a – a tab, if you needed to..." he offered shyly, looking a little afraid.

Jill sighed and shook her head. "No, I'd probably forget to pay you back. Just... just take it."

He took the pile, examining the first stone briefly before tearing off a square of wrapping paper and covering it neatly. "What are you wrapping all these up for, anyway?" he coughed. "If you... don't mind me asking."

"It's Gray's birthday," she said shortly. While Jeff was perhaps the furthest thing from a gossip, the same couldn't be said for his wife, who had delighted in cornering Jill with Anna and Manna the previous day.

Jeff mouthed the name silently, giving a frown that made his mustache lopsided. "He's kind of... anti-social, isn't he? Unfriendly. I – I guess he's just never spent much time in here, so I don't see him much. Ah..." he ducked his head and continued wrapping at the frown on Jill's face. Not the angry frown that he'd interpreted it as, but a thoughtful frown.

Anti-social... well, she'd call it shy. He didn't talk a whole lot, and it wasn't like he went out of his way to be the center of attention, but... anti-social was a little extreme. And unfriendly – no. Just no. He was... Gray was...

"I haven't seen that side of him," she mumbled curiously. "He's always been... courteous."

Jeff suddenly blinked up at her, the information that Sasha and Karen had spent the previous night chatting about sinking in. "Oh – _oh_. Well, to you... he might be different. I didn't realize, I'm sorry –"

"Right, are they done?" she interrupted sharply, more than a little unwilling to be having that conversation at all, let alone with someone she hardly knew. Jeff was a perfectly nice man – as was his wife – but that didn't mean anything she said to him would be kept between the two of them. Heck, she... hadn't even been telling Jack what was going in her head – not until she could work it out for herself, that was. It just felt like... everything would be so much easier when she and Gray could go back to being friends again.

"Thanks," she murmured, absent-mindedly taking the bag full of small, wrapped packages and getting out of the supermarket in record time.

--

"For _how_ much?" Jack asked incredulously, shaking his head at his little sister. "Don't you think you're taking this a little far? You don't need to bribe him – besides, if he really did love you, presents aren't going to make anything better. Nothing but a heck of a lot of time will."

"But I was talking to Rick again within three days," she said with a pout that would have been adorable if she were still five years old. "I just – he's one of my best friends, you know? I hate this."

"If you really think those will help," he shrugged, inclining his head towards the bag. "I don't think I can stop you. But... don't get your hopes up."

"I won't," she promised, walking back outside with the relatively heavy bag in tow.

"Goddess," Jack muttered, walking into the kitchen. Jill wasn't the only one who'd been having it tough over the last three days – of course, it was undoubtedly worse for her... but he'd been in a bad mood since finding out that there was some kind of history between the blacksmith and the librarian, considering the argument that he'd had with the latter.

He couldn't blame Jill for turning Gray down, of course, not even now. After all – how was it any more her fault, just because Jack had received some additional information? And Mary – with her quick, judgmental words about his sister – he couldn't even be mad at her, now that he understood that she was hurting. No, he was mad at _himself_. If Mary didn't know that Jack didn't know she'd been with Gray – it could have seemed like a malicious, petty attack on her emotions. And even if she didn't see it like that... it still must have hurt her. A lot.

Of course, all of this was based on the assumption that Mary was still in love with Gray, and he had no proof of that whatsoever. Just basic observations about a girl that he really hadn't spent all that much time talking to. But something in the librarian's eyes when he'd mentioned Gray's name was still bothering him even now – a flash of excitement, immediately dulled by a wave of pain. And then again, maybe he was only imagining that look now that he'd realized they had been together – if he hadn't been looking for it, how could he possibly notice it in the space of a split second?

A part of him wanted to talk to her and explain that there had been a misunderstanding, while a larger part of him had no particular desire to get very well acquainted with Elli and Tim in the clinic over the next few days. Mary might look like your usual innocent and shy librarian, but there was something sarcastic and almost feisty in her nature that left _no_ doubt in his mind about her ability to mutilate and destroy perfectly functioning body parts.

With a sigh, he sat down at the kitchen table with his head resting in his hands. Everything had been so damn _easy _in the city. When Jill was with Tom – when Jill was happy, and Veronica had every boy in the city hanging off her slightest action or simplest word, and Jack went out with his friends every night without many serious concerns – it was easy. Simple as that. And now... Jill was in the middle of this drama – and it wasn't just that he _couldn't _bring himself to leave her; he didn't _want _to leave her. He stayed in that position for about ten minutes before the door burst open and Jill ran back in, her cheeks somewhat flushed.

"Do you think he'll like them?" she muttered, bringing one balled up fist to her head. "I mean, he – I'm not sure. What if he hates them, and thinks... I'm... I don't know, trying to aggravate him or something?"

"Jill," Jack scowled. "Have you even given them to him yet?"

Her cheeks turned a deeper red and he took a step closer to her as she started to reply. "Well I didn't technically _give _them to him –"

"What do you mean?"

"I... freaked out," she admitted quietly, tilting her head towards the floor. "I couldn't... see him, so I just left them – with a card, I mean. He'll know they were from me. And I knocked, and I swear I meant to stay, but I just... my feet made me leave. It's... maybe he was sleeping or something, anyway. Maybe he wasn't even there. I just... I don't know what happened." She sat down wearily, running an annoyed hand through her blonde hair. "Do you think he'll like them?"

"He's a blacksmith," Jack scoffed. "They're jewels. Of course he'll like them – I just don't think it's got anything to do with it, whether or not he likes them. Either he'll appreciate the gesture or he'll think you're patronizing him – but no matter what, I doubt this is going to make everything better. I just wish you wouldn't get your hopes up."

"I get that," she shrugged. "I just... maybe it'll do something, because..." she trailed off and when she started speaking again, it was in a significantly more quiet voice. "I don't know if I can handle just doing nothing when I know that I've hurt him."

"I know," Jack said, his mouth pressing into a sympathetic line. "But at least he knows where to find you – and you know that you can go to the Blacksmith's when you need to speak to him. And speaking of the Blacksmith's, I need you to go get me a brush off Saibara before he closes."

"Okay. I will," Jill nodded.

There was a meaningful pause, before Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Why don't you go now?"

"I'm tired," she offered, flopping down onto her bed to illustrate her point.

Twenty minutes later, Jill was storming angrily up the street. Her brother had dragged her out of bed and locked her out of the house, informing her that she wouldn't be allowed back in until she had a brush accompanying her. After minute eighteen, she'd stopped throwing a tantrum, and now, was standing in the blacksmith's doorway.

"Hi, Saibara."

The elderly man glanced up, his face crinkling into a smile. "Afternoon, Miss Jill. What can I do for you?"

"Uh... my brother wants a brush," she shrugged with an amused grin. "I'm not sure why, because the last time I checked... well, we didn't have any animals." Saibara frowned and checked a cupboard that was set into a workbench beneath his desk.

"Here you go, young lady," he said, handing her a wooden brush with thick bristles. "Anything else?"

"N-no," she answered distractedly, her eyes steadily focused on something else. Saibara followed her gaze to a set of sparkling stones, then beamed.

"Gray brought them down for me just a few minutes ago – shame you missed him, actually. I think someone gave them to him – it's his birthday today, I'm not sure if you knew – but he decided to give them to his old grandpa. He can be a good boy, that one." Saibara's mouth twisted and he glanced at the bench suddenly. "Something's wrong lately, though. Maybe... maybe you could do an old man a favor and go see Gray later? He's just... miserable all of a sudden, and the Goddess knows that if anyone can cheer him up, it's you."

"Um," she said softly, determinedly avoiding Saibara's gaze. "I'll... try. Yeah. I'd better go home, ah, Jack... needed this." She held up the brush and gave a small smile as she walked out.

The path from the blacksmithing shop to her house seemed to have more bumps in it than usual as she made her way back, arms folded over her chest and head dipped. She'd listened to Jack's warnings and she hadn't believed that everything would go back to normal – but _that _had hurt. She had no right to be hurt; she knew that she'd caused Gray a lot of pain, and she of all people should know that pain from love didn't evaporate with a pretty gift.

At the same time, though... it was hard to think that he hated her so much, he couldn't even stand to keep a present from her.

--

Gray sat on his bed uncomfortably, even more confused than he'd been the day before. About half an hour previous, he'd heard a tentative knocking at his door, then frantic footsteps that could have been either someone running away, or someone running up to the door. He'd walked over and opened it, only to nearly step on a bag filled with beautifully wrapped, small packages.

He opened them curiously, each revealing a sparkling jewel, and instantly smiled despite himself – his grandfather must have left him these in addition to the few days holiday he'd been given. But then he saw the card.

_Dear Gray,  
I know I haven't been the greatest friend, and I'm really sorry. Please take these and know that I'll always be here if you need me.  
Love Jill._

He sat in silence for a long time, his mind working painfully fast. It must have taken the girl hours to find some of these gems, and although she probably didn't know it, some of the lower floors of both mines were horribly unstable, even for someone with training in mining. With a helpless shudder at the thought of her being caught in a cave-in, he shook his head and firmly shut his eyes.

Regardless of all that, the gift made him smile – and terribly sad at the same time. How could he keep the stones – knowing that every time they caught his eye, he would be forced into thinking about the girl who gave them to him? The girl who had all but told him that he didn't have a chance in hell with her?

So, he'd run down to the blacksmiths shop with the jewels, intending to give them to his grandfather. After all, he was feeling... pretty shocking and it might be nice to bring a smile to someone else's face at least. And bring a smile to someone else's face he did - he'd never seen Saibara so happy.

"Thank you, boy," he beamed, examining the gems. "It's kind of you to bring me something this nice, especially on your birthday. You're not a bad kid; I've always said as much." The elderly man exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You've just... been so cold the past few days, I thought there was something seriously wrong."

Gray cleared his throat. "I've been acting... different?"

"Oh yes," Saibara nodded immediately, his voice rough but his eyes soft. "I was worried about you, Gray – you seemed like you were depressed. But you're, ah... feeling better now?"

"Um. Yeah." He coughed nervously, letting his gaze wander. "Nothing was... wrong... in the first place. I – look, I have to go." Despite his grandfather's protests, Gray was back in his room at the inn before he realized he'd even left the blacksmiths, left to dwell on Saibara's unusually considerate words.

"Depressed," he muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "I'm not... I'm not depressed."

Maybe he couldn't completely blame his grandfather for jumping to that confusion. He felt... low. That was the only way to describe it. Well – small, rejected, bitter, idiotic, hurt – there were a few ways – but 'low' summed them all up pretty well.

Jill wasn't perfect. He could admit that – he would admit that to her face, if she bothered to ask him. Everyone looked to fall in love with someone perfect – people that only existed in romantic novels and movies. When you could fall for someone imperfect, and you wouldn't have them any other way... that was love, as far as Gray could tell. But he'd... kind of always thought that, even if he hadn't experienced it. The thing that he'd only discovered recently was that it didn't matter how much you loved a person – there was always going to be a chance that they wouldn't return the feelings. And he'd had to find that out the hard way.

--

"And I need... twelve of those. Oh, and about six of them," Jack said, pointing to a stack of flour packets.

"That'll be... uh, 1500G," Jeff said as he half-smiled. He was certainly raking it in off the siblings today.

"Good morning, Jeff," a cheerful, proper voice called. Jack and Jeff both turned towards the doorway where Anna was standing, her reluctant daughter right behind her. "We're here for the weekly shopping – did you manage to get more flour in for this week?"

"Of course – we have to start stocking up," Jeff said quietly. "It's the Thanksgiving festival next week – we never sell as much on any other day."

Not even bothering to ask why they were stocking up on flour rather than turkey, Jack determinedly stared at the dark-haired librarian until she glanced up and met his eye for a split second. He could have sworn that she rolled her eyes as she turned away, but he was far from deterred – walking over and leaning on the counter next to her when she headed to the side of the room.

"Listen, Mary," he said, ignoring the fact that she was completely unresponsive, "I'm sorry for how I spoke to you the other day."

She looked taken-aback at that, and allowed herself a quick frown in his direction – though she still didn't speak as Jack inhaled, wondering if she'd been rendered mute since the last time he saw her.

"See, I..." he closed his eyes awkwardly. "I didn't know about you and Gray. I only found out after –" he stopped abruptly as she turned to face him sharply, face white and eyebrows raised.

"I only want to ask you this once," she told him in a voice barely above a whisper. "Never, ever bring that up again. It's none of your business, and I don't know what you _think _you know, but I'm going to ask you to leave at least that much private." Her eyes were unmoving as she stared at him; he stared right back for a few moments before shaking his head and shrugging.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I shouldn't –"

"So you're Jack Evans," Anna's voice said, tinged with interest as she descended on Jack and Mary. "I've heard a lot about you, but we haven't really had the chance to speak. I'm Anna –" she extended a hand towards him and smiled as he took it, "And my daughter Mary, you obviously know already." She raised an eyebrow at her daughter, who appeared to be on the verge of sulking. "She's the town librarian, and we live in the house next door to her library – just so you know, you're welcome to come over any time at all. My husband would love to talk to you about your crops, I'm sure – I'll be happy to help you with anything, and my Mary... I'm sure you two would get along brilliantly." She gave Mary an obvious wink that could have been hidden rather more effectively.

"Thanks very much for the offer," Jack grinned in reply. "I'll make sure to take you up on it some time. I'd love to stay, but I have to get home –" he held up the shopping bag in his hand, "Jill wanted a ridiculous amount of chocolate, and I don't think I even want to know her reasoning behind it."

"Oh, don't worry," Anna laughed, looking delighted with her new friend and blatantly nudging Mary, whose face was turning a deeper red by the second. "It'll be for the Thanksgiving Festival. Girls give chocolate or cookies to boys... and Mary will most definitely be baking some, won't you darling?" She didn't bother to pull her gaze away from Jack as she asked the question; probably a good thing as Mary's eyebrows flew up in a way that clearly said she would _not _be baking cookies for anyone. "Well," Anna continued, "I'll let you go, and we'll finish our shopping. See you soon, Jack!"

"Bye Anna. Bye Mary," he called, receiving an enthusiastic wave from the mother and a half-hearted nod from the daughter. Well, he'd apologized. The ball was in her court now.

--

**Eight days later...**

"Ugh," Jack announced, cutting his eyes to the front door at the sound of a faint knocking on it. At least he was awake, but barely – it was exactly six in the morning, and he was eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table as his sister lay, motionless, in her bed. "Jill, can you get that?" he teased, watching in amusement as she rolled over and gave him a more hateful squint than he'd ever thought possible.

And then it registered that he should probably open the door.

"Hey Ann," he said warmly, leaning against the door frame and trying to keep his tired eyes focused on the waitress. "How are you?"

"Significantly more awake than you," she shrugged, her cheeks tinged a light pink. "Listen, don't get the wrong idea with this, okay? I just – you're new here, so you're probably not going to get anything today, and I didn't want you to feel like a total reject." She handed him a wrapped package, sticking her tongue out.

"Thanks," he yawned appreciatively. "How's Cliff?"

The red-head's face lit up. "He's doing so much better. It's really great, actually. You know he's been back at the inn for three days, and this morning... he really seemed almost completely well again." She hesitated for a moment, before her eyes widened in horror. "Goddess, I left cookies for him in the oven... dammit, dammit – Happy Thanksgiving!" she called vaguely over her shoulder, her legs flying as she bolted back in the direction of the inn.

Jack was left staring at her and the package in alternate amusement. "What is it?" Jill asked sleepily, pushing herself into an upright position and tilting her head in mild curiosity.

"Ah..." he said, tearing the wrapping paper, "A chocolate bar."

"Haha," Jill teased before flopping back down onto her pillow. "You two are just friends. Poor Jack."

"Do you realize that you get about thirteen or fourteen hours of sleep a night?" Jack asked incredulously, watching as his sister ignored his words and pulled her pillow down slightly. "It can't be healthy. You spend more time asleep than awake."

"Sleep is awesome," she mumbled defensively. "You insult sleeping, you'll have me to answer to."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He rolled his eyes. "So, are you giving anyone chocolate?"

"Mmhm. Older, single men, I guess. Doug... Zack... Barley... and so on." She turned onto her face, blocking out Jack's words with her pillow and drifting off back to sleep.

"Pop-u-lar," Jack whistled, raising an eyebrow at her hunched up form as another knock sounded from the front door. He walked over and opened it, before grinning at the girl on the other side. "Hey."

"Hey Jack," Karen said in a cheerful, confident voice. "I don't know if you knew, but... today is the Winter Thanksgiving Festival. So, ah – here. I baked you something."

"Oh wow," he announced in a voice that had Jill close to throwing up. "What a surprise! I didn't think anyone would – thanks."

"That's alright," Karen said, her cheeks coloring and mouth engaged in a bright smile. "I'd better get going, but, uh... have a great day." She left and Jill grudgingly got out of bed, shuffling over and glancing at the box in Jack's hands with a smirk on her face.

"Aww. She loves you."

"Yeah yeah. You hurry up and give that chocolate to all your boyfriends, huh?"

Jill stopped teasing him abruptly and scowled. "You wouldn't let me win, would you? Just once?" She watched as her brother absent-mindedly tore the wrapping off. "And I wouldn't eat those..." Jack glanced down at the contents of the box he'd received from Karen, then promptly dropped them.

"What the hell are _they_?" he wondered aloud in a horrified voice, examining the lumpy, rock-hard objects. "What am I meant to do with them?"

"Here, let me help," Jill said impatiently, grabbing the box and dumping it in the bin. "Wow, they were delicious, right?" She winked at her brother and he smiled.

"Sometimes I love you so much."

--

"Happy Winter Thanksgiving, Doug!" Jill announced, handing him a block of chocolate. The corners of his mouth tilted upwards.

"Thanks very much, Jill. You're a generous young lady."

"No problem. See you later!" she left the inn and waltzed down the road that led to the blacksmiths. The door made a loud creaking noise when it opened. "Hey, Saibara! Hi, Gr - um..." Uh oh. She'd purposely left the blacksmiths until last, with the knowledge that Gray wouldn't be there past 1pm. After checking the clock, she gritted her teeth. It was two - what was he still doing here?!

"Hi, Jill. What did you want today?" the elderly man asked with a rough smile, snapping her back to reality.

"I, um, uh, I... I brought, uh... Happy Winter Thanksgiving!" she called, practically throwing the chocolate at him in her haste to get out of the door.

"Now, just one second, Missy! Don't you go pretending you haven't got a gift for Gray! In fact..." he turned to the wide-eyed young man. "Gray, I know that Jill is the reason your heart is elsewhere. Why don't you take the afternoon off, go for a walk with her?" Gray's face turned an intriguing shade of purple, as he struggled to get a set of comprehensible words out through his complete mortification. Jill filled in for him.

"I'm sorry, I have somewhere to be." she sprinted off without another word, leaving Gray alone with his grandfather.

"What was that all about?" Saibara demanded, unaware that he was one bad remark away from being thrown into the melting pot. "I'm no idiot, I know there's something between you two. I see the way you look at her, and she looks at you the same –"

"No, she doesn't."

His grandfather looked taken-aback for a moment. "You adore that girl. Any fool can see it. Why on earth you aren't dating her is beyond me..."

Gray shrugged, turning back to his work. "That's not my choice," he mumbled eventually.

"Don't get sullen with me, boy," Saibara growled. "If you're not enough of a man to tell her how you feel, I'm not the one to be taking it out on. You ask me; you need to pull yourself together and get some guts."

"I told her I loved her," he snapped, slamming one hand down onto the workbench and closing his eyes tightly. "She damn well rejected me, alright? So don't give me crap about telling her how I feel; maybe if I hadn't, I wouldn't be in this situation with her."

The old man just stared at Gray as if he was seeing him for the first time. "You... told her, did you? And she turned you down?"

"Yes, okay? What, I'm a disappointment now or something?"

Saibara half-smiled. "On the contrary, boy. You're a braver man than I ever was."

--

Jack frowned at the floor while he paced the kitchen. His head snapped up when he heard the door open, but his pacing resumed when he recognized the blonde.

"Goddess, that... may have been the most embarrassing moment of my life," she moaned, flinging herself onto her bed. Jack sighed.

"What've you done now?"

She turned to fix him with a dangerous glare. "What did _I _do? Nothing! I was just at the blacksmiths, and..."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Here we go. Wait, let me get comfortable."

"Hilarious, Jack. So funny I forgot to laugh." She rolled her eyes and glanced at her hands. "Anyway, I went in - I purposely left the blacksmiths 'till last, because I know Gray is... well, he's never there after 1pm. But he was there today," She gritted her teeth and brought one hand up to her head impatiently. "So I gave Saibara his chocolate, went to leave – get out of there as quick as possible, you know – and he started saying all this embarrassing stuff about how Gray and I are practically a couple or something. I felt... horrible. It was just – so bad for Gray. He literally looked like he was going to stab his grandfather."

"That's a shame," Jack replied, having tuned out awhile ago. He was staring at the door again.

"Jack! You're not listening. Who are you looking for? Are you expecting someone?"

"Uh, no. No."

He received a funny look as his sister stood up. "Whatever. I'm going to visit Ann, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go," he told her inattentively, his gaze returning to the door.

Jill rolled her eyes and picked up her coat. "You are _so _weird. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"See you," Jack said to himself more than Jill, shaking his head. To tell the truth, he _was_ expecting someone – today would be the perfect opportunity for Mary to apologize for their argument, and as he really didn't think she was _that _mad at him, he was completely expecting her to come by and make peace. And he did want to be friends with her.

So, several hours were spent waiting by the door in absolute certainty that she would show up. But she never did. Bored, he went out to work in the fields and stayed there until about ten o'clock that night, when he came back inside.

"Hey, Jill? What do you want for dinner?"

"Jack..." a sleepy voice replied, "I went to bed an hour ago. I had dinner at the inn at like... six. Where has your brain been today?"

"Ah... okay. Well, I'm not hungry, so... night."

"Night... an hour too late..."

Jack sat himself down on the couch, staring ahead thoughtfully. "Hey, Jill? Don't you think these... festival things are really good? Like, in the city, there were parties and celebrations for things like New Years, but here they have heaps of organized traditions. I just find it... pretty cool."

"Mmph," she scowled. "I guess. Would you go to sleep?"

"What's the next festival coming up?" he continued, unaffected by her obvious snubs. With an exasperated noise, Jill pushed herself up slightly.

"Starry Night, I think."

"Starry Night," he echoed, frowning. "What's that about?"

"Starry. Night. Jack, it's not that hard to figure out. It's on the 24th, and the... stars are pretty, I guess. You watch them with people. I think it can be romantic, but... it can be just a family thing too. Now seriously, I'm really tired." A long pause followed, and Jill rolled over, finding a comfortable position and drifting off.

"What do you mean by romantic?"

"For Goddess's sake, shut _UP_! What do you _think_ I mean? Go grab a dictionary if you really don't know the meaning of the word romantic, but leave me alone!"

"Just answer me!" he whined, sounding about fifteen years younger than he was. "Do you go somewhere if you have a girlfriend, or...?"

"I don't really know. Ask Ann tomorrow, she'll know more about it than me... but I think you can just ask a girl or boy you like to have dinner at your place."

"How do -"

But Jill was determinedly drowning out his voice with fake snores, leaving him to mull over the new information in his head.

**--**


	20. Chapter 20

_**The last chapter I've updated – not including little pieces out of future chapters – so if the standard drops a little for a few chapters... that's why. But I really don't think it WILL drop significantly; there was only so much in these twenty that I could change without rewriting the entire story. So if you're this far, please keep going!**_

**xxx**

"_Jack and Jill, get in the car this instant! Jillian! How many times do you want to hug the dishwasher goodbye? Come on!"_

"_Jill, Mamma's going to get angry if we don't go right now. Please hurry!" Jack pleaded, trying to drag his sister away from the kitchen. _

"_But I haven't said goodbye to the apple tree or the towel cupboard yet..." she whimpered, sliding away along the floor. Jack grabbed the back of her pinafore and pulled her towards him._

"_But you've said goodbye to __**everything**_ _else," he groaned, dragging up recent, tedious memories of tearful partings with various appliances and furniture on his sister's part._

"_JACK AND JILL!" their mother's voice screamed in a way that made Jill abandon any attempts to farewell her beloved towel cabinet and race out to the car as fast as her little legs would carry her. She stopped at the top of the stairs abruptly when she noticed visitors, then barreled down and threw herself on a sobbing girl about her age._

"_I c-can't... I don't want you to l-leave!"little Kate sniffed, wiping her nose with her sleeve. That was all it took to send Jill into a fresh round of tears, until the sob-fest was interrupted by an impatient throat clearing. The blonde looked up. Jack was in the car, her mom was talking to Kate's mom Sharon, and her dad was still moving suitcases. Who was it?_

"_Oh... h – hi." Jill said, smiling up at the culprit. Kate looked around, and she grinned when she remembered what she was meant to do._

"_Oh yeah! Jill, my brother... no wait, uh..." she turned to the boy blankly, obviously forgetting her line. He beckoned her away impatiently, said a few short words to her, then led her back. "I remember now. Um, my brother..." she glanced over her shoulder to where he was clearly eavesdropping a few metres away. "Agh! I mean me... I... would like to know if you have a crush on my brother." She smiled proudly, as if she'd just said something wonderful and profound._

"_What!" Jill half-screamed in embarrassment. "Who told you tha – uh... no... why?" the girl turned back to her brother._

"_Hey, you! She wants to know why you want to know!" his cheeks reddening, he beckoned for his sister and whispered something in her ear. Rolling her eyes, she scurried back to Jill. "He says not to tell you that he's the one that wants to know, and... oops... anyway, it doesn't matter if you do because you're leaving now so can you pleeeeease tell me?"_

_Jill's eyes flew from side to side nervously. "Well, maybe just a little bit, yes. But like you said, it doesn't matter because we're leaving!"_

"_She said yes!" Kate called in a voice loud enough to capture the attention of everyone. Her brother ran off and the young girl winced, realizing her mistake. "Sorry..." Jill crept over to where her mother was clutching Veronica and talking to Sharon._

"_So, I said to him, why would you need six of them? Then he started ranting about how it's a bigger house with more opportunities for the children's futures, and of course we need six televisions. Well, guess what I said to that? I – Veronica darling, please don't..." the red-haired toddler was maliciously tugging on Jill's blonde hair, making her cry out. "Jill, stop making such a fuss. Sorry, Sharon. Your children are so well behaved, it's embarrassing that mine are always wreaking havoc whenever we have company." She gazed almost longingly at the boy who was staring thoughtfully across the street, and Kate, who seemed to find a collection of pebbles from the driveway mesmerizingly entertaining. _

"_Oh Linda, they are good," the brown-haired woman said, black shadows prominent under her eyes. "I just wish I could do more for them. My illness is..." no longer interested, Jill hopped into the car next to Jack, who instinctively reached over to buckle her seatbelt. She smacked his hand away._

"_I can do it myself!" she said defiantly, struggling to work the clasp. He rolled his eyes and resumed his stance, looking earnestly out the window. "What are you doing?" Jill asked curiously, having given up on her seatbelt._

"_Remembering." Jack said, his face peaceful._

"_Why are you dismembering?" Jill asked innocently, confused._

"_RE-membering. I'm trying to take photos with my brain of our house so I don't forget it. And... our friends." His eyes lingered on the little girl who was playing with the pebbles for just a moment too long, but Jill didn't notice. She stared out of the other window in boredom, then jumped as her daddy slammed down the boot of the car._

"_That's the last one, Honey. Let's get moving." Linda kissed her friend on the cheek with tears in her eyes, then slid into the passenger seat. "Jack...? Jill...? Did you want to go say goodbye to the kids?" Jack shook his head, biting down on his lip, but Jill immediately ran out of the car and chased her friends down the street._

"_Hey, guys! I'm leaving now so I have to say 'bye." Kate hugged Jill while following a butterfly with her eyes, distracted as five-year-olds can tend to be in what should be emotional situations. Her brother's eyes on the other hand, were far from distracted and were suspiciously bright as he fixed them on Jill._

"_Um... goodbye, I guess..." he nervously bent his knees and pressed his lips against Jill's cheek, making her flush a bright pink, and her bottom lip tremble._

"_I, um... I will miss you." she informed him in her grown-up voice, "Very bigly. I mean, muchly."_

"_Yep. Me too."_

"_Um... okay. Bye." She turned to walk quickly back to the car, but was stopped by an urgent voice._

"_Jill, wait!" the boy called, fumbling in his pocket. "I... I have something for you. Just let me..." he frowned, then beamed triumphantly as he held up a plastic purple ring. "Here." Jill smiled widely at her prize, and examined it with glee as he slipped it onto her too-small finger. "This is so you remember me. And when we see each other again... we'll get married, okay?"_

_The blonde stared at the anxious boy and her face broke into a wide smile. "Okay! I promise!" The car horn honked impatiently, and she threw her arms around her "fiancé" in an awkward hug, before she raced off and got back in her seat. The silver four-wheel-drive reversed out the driveway and Jack's mother broke down as she waved goodbye to the brown-haired woman and her children._

"_I can't help but think that's the last time I'll ever see Sharon," she informed her husband about half an hour later. "She just isn't strong enough to cope with parenthood, and her husband... well, you know. He's no help."_

"_Mmm." The man grunted, flipping the indicator and making a sharp right turn._

"_She really shouldn't even be looking after those children, you know. If child services found out about her depression, and her husband's negligence, they'd take them straight away. And I can't help feel bad for their children – the girl is probably too young to remember, but the boy will probably carry mental scarring his whole life."_

"_Hon, should you be talking about this in front of the kids?"_

"_Oh, don't be silly. Jack's asleep, and Jill and Veronica wouldn't understand. Anyway, Sharon was telling me that Daniel came home from work the other day, blind drunk – he'd been driving, too – and he just went off his head. She had to run out of the house with the children until he'd calmed down, but the poor little boy got a few heavy slaps before she could escape."_

"_Huh. Terrible."_

"_Oh, I know. And I feel so awful to leave her in this state."_

"_It's not your problem, though. She should divorce him, then go look for professional help. It'd be better for the kids if they were placed in foster care anyway."_

"_Mommy? Can we stop for ice-cream?" Jill asked brightly, the nature of the conversation flying straight over her head. Her mother sighed and swiveled around to face her._

"_Jillian, we've only been in the car for a little while, and it's going to be ages before we get to our new house. Once we get on the aeroplane, I'm sure they'll have ice-cream."_

"_Guess what? I'm getting married. With a pretty white dress and high shoes. And a cake. When can we come back to see our friends again?"_

_Her mother smiled sadly. "It might not be for a long, long time."_

**xxx**

It was a snowy morning on the 23rd day of Winter as Jill hurried up the road towards the clinic, whistling to herself. She held various medicinal herbs in a basket – Jack had ordered her to get them out of the house – though with rather more heavy swearing – after he found a red one in the fridge and used it as a garnish on a grilled cheese sandwich. So, rather than throwing them away (or shipping them, perhaps the most logical course of action,) she was going to hand them over to Elli and Tim – a thanks for their kindness when Jack had stumbled into the clinic yelling bloody murder and sporting a wide variety of red blotches, minutes after the sandwich incident.

"Hello?" she called, pushing her way in and approaching Elli. "Hey! I brought Tim some, uh... medicinal plant things. Do you want to take them?"

"Oh no," the nurse smiled, "Go right ahead and bring them in to him. He'll want to thank you himself. But then... come back out and talk to me. I'm lonely and tired."

Jill shot her a replying smile and walked in to the doctor's office, where he thanked her enthusiastically – seeming more interested in the herbs than in talking to her. She rolled her eyes a little at his social obliviousness – undeniably adorable as it was – and headed back to Elli, who was thumbing through a pile of paperwork and looking bored out of her mind. "Looks like exciting work," she offered, nodding to the pile. The brunette glared at her.

"Yeah, it's pretty absorbing stuff," she nodded sarcastically. "Medical receipts, mostly. I'm not even sure why I need to sort them, but... part of the job, I guess."

Jill grinned. "Are you guys doing anything tomorrow for Starry Night?"

Elli beamed at her, blushing slightly. "Oh, yes. This year... I mean, we're officially a – you know, couple – and Tim shouldn't have to put up with me trying to make Stu eat vegetables and _stop _eating cookies the whole night. Again. Grandma's decided that she'll brave the Cookie Monster for the evening and let Tim and I have a... well, romantic dinner. At the beach.

"Aw," the blonde cooed teasingly. "How cute!"

"Yes," Elli nodded, color rising into her cheeks. "And... come closer." Jill leaned in, a puzzled expression on her face as Elli started talking in a significantly lowered voice. "Promise me you won't tell anyone – it'd be beyond embarrassing if nothing came of it – but I'm hoping... praying, really... that he's going to propose." Jill squealed loudly, clapping both hands over her mouth, and was rewarded with an 'if-looks-could-kill-you'd-be-cold-on-the-floor' glare for her trouble.

"Oh Goddess – how romantic isthat?If he does propose on the beach, Elli..." she whispered in excitement, a wide grin on her face. "I can just picture it... but wait a second." She frowned. "You guys have only been a couple for... well, not too long. A little over a year... isn't that a bit... soon?"

"Uh... no," the nurse laughed, raising an eyebrow at Jill. "I mean... my grandmother got engaged on her first date with Grandpa. A year is... almost too long, if anything."

"Well, it's your choice..." Jill said, raising an eyebrow. "I just... don't think rushed marriages should happen. A year isn't too bad, you're right." She paused. "Maybe it's the right thing for you. It's just, I – I don't know if I'll ever get married. I don't know if I'll ever fall in love enough to do that."

_You would have married Tom._

Elli looked at Jill, rather hurt. "I do love Doctor Tim, Jill. Very much."

"Elli," she interrupted, shaking her head. "I know you do, and it's incredibly sweet to see. I just... doubt I'll ever be able to find someone that important to me." _Again._ "I won't get married until I've had that... feeling, where you'd just... die for someone. You don't want to spend a second without them." Elli smiled sympathetically.

"That's a hard thing to come into instantly," she reminded her gently. "If you want to have a relationship, you need to start a relationship."

"Yeah," Jill agreed, not in the mood to spill all. She'd been hurt... and it was something that she wasn't just going to suddenly snap out of. Not for Rick, not for Gray, and not for herself – not for anyone.

"Well... thanks for talking to me, El," the blonde smiled, leaning over the desk to hug her friend. "I'll come visit you soon – and you need to tell me as soon as _anything _to do with that –" she inclined her head in Tim's direction, "Happens. Okay?"

**xxx**

Jack grinned as he passed his sister in the street and fumbled with the zipper on his jacket, noticing that she was shivering. She held up a hand and shook her head.

"Don't. I'm heading back home now anyway. Where are you off to?" Jack looked away innocently and Jill's eyes widened instantly. "_Jack_! You're going to invite someone over for Starry Night, aren't you?"

"Shh!" he urged, motioning for her to keep her voice down.

"Who is it? I didn't know you liked anyone! Why don't you tell me these things?"

"I _don't _like anyone," he said in exasperation. "I just... I want to join in with the celebrations. You're inviting someone, right?"

"No."

He opened his mouth to reply, then promptly closed it. "Well... I am. I'll ask Karen, and if she says no, I guess I'll have to put up with you for the night. The rest have boyfriends, don't they?"

"Popuri doesn't, and Mary doesn't –"

"The rest have boyfriends, have major over-excitement issues, or will bite my head off if I even think about asking, won't they?" he repeated firmly, not even letting himself consider it. Mary hadn't said a word to him since his apology in the supermarket, and if she wanted to be like that, he wasn't going to make the effort either. "I'll talk to Karen. See you at home." His sister ran off with a 'knowing' smile and Jack turned back in the direction of the supermarket, struggling against the harsh wind.

"Hey Karen. Sasha, Jeff." He was greeted warmly by the family, then with the pretense of examining loaves of bread, made his way over to where Karen was stacking flour.

"What brings you here today?" Karen asked with a smile, straining to place a packet on the top of the pile. Jack took it off her and easily put it in place.

"Uh, just needed some bread, and – just stuff. We've got no food in our house."

"Right," she laughed, blushing slightly as she averted her eyes to the ground. "Kind of a stupid question, huh? I mean... this is a supermarket."

"It didn't sound stupid to me," he winked. "So... you made plans for tomorrow yet? Spending time with your family, or are you... free?" she swiveled to face him, a beam on her face.

"It's really funny you asked! See, just this morning Rick came in and asked me if I wanted to spend it with his family. Of course I said I would – I mean, Lillia's been like a mother and Popuri's been like a sister to me. And... I really think that my relationship with Rick is repairing, too – wait. Ah... why?" she tacked on at the end, her face coloring in mortification. "Because... you know, that's not set in stone... I'm not even really sure what we're meant to be doing, you know – if, uh..."

"No, I was just curious," Jack coughed. "I haven't, uh... asked anyone yet. I'm probably just spending it with Jill."

"Right," she said too quickly, nodding. "Yeah, that's what I thought – just – you know, if... I'll take those groceries for you." She took the basket from his hands and rummaged through, adding up all the prices by scribbling them onto a piece of paper.

"Can you keep them here for a little bit?" he asked, nodding to the bag. "I was just going to stay in town for awhile, and I don't want to have to drag a shopping bag around until I'm going home."

"Yeah, that's fine," she said, still looking slightly disappointed. "Have fun!"

Jack left quickly, a little embarrassed but mostly amused. It was looking like family night for the Evans' – Karen had been his first choice, but he obviously wasn't going to mess up anything between her and Rick. An evening with both Popuri and Jill? That was a definite 'no' as well. Elli had a boyfriend, Ann was probably doing something with Cliff, and Mary... well. Self-explanatory.

Once he'd reached the inn, Ann brought him a drink and took it upon herself to talk to him.

"Cliff's being a brat," were the first words out of her mouth once she'd sat down. "I keep dropping hints about spending tomorrow evening together, but he's either really stupid or doesn't want to, because he hasn't asked yet."

"Hey, you're the bartender here," Jack teased, "Aren't you meant to be listening to _my _problems?"

Ann shrugged. "Sure. I'll listen to your problems, but I bet mine are more interesting. What's up?" Smirking, Jack filled her in on his failed attempt to ask Karen to the festival. Unfortunately, he said it just as she stole a sip of his drink, making her spit it straight back out with laughter.

"Ann, that's gross!"

"You're such an idiot! You'd have to ask one of the two girls who have almost steady boyfriends, wouldn't you? Wait right here, I'll go get a cloth to clean that up. And I'll get you a new drink." A few minutes later she returned, and told Jack more about her predicament with Cliff while she cleaned. "It's just... I really don't want to be a loner for the Starry Night Festival, and it'd be nice if any guy asked me, even as a friend. It doesn't matter who it is."

"Us guys aren't very good at picking up hints, you have to understand," Jack said in Cliff's defense. Ann rolled her eyes.

"I'll say. You're living proof."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No-thi-ng..." she grinned, placing her hands behind her back and whistling as she backed away towards the kitchen.

"Ann! Come back here – ugh. I swear, that girl is one of the weirdest..." his mutters became incoherent as he pondered. Then it clicked. He grinned, remembering her childish indications, then ambled into the kitchen, where she was clearly expecting him with a smile on her face. "You know, you could've just asked me yourself if you wanted to so badly," he reprimanded her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted mischievously, turning away to clear some dishes. Jack sighed.

"Ann, dearest, would you like to spend tomorrow night with my sister and I?" Ann's eyes sparkled playfully as she spun back to face him.

"Well, I might have plans, you know. I'll have to check my schedule."

"Oh, don't worry about it. If it's too much trouble, forget I asked." He stepped away, pretending he was leaving, and the redhead began to panic.

"No, no! I was kidding! I will, I will, I will!" Her eyes narrowed as Jack began laughing helplessly, and she chased him outside the inn, thumping him with a dishcloth.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" He yelled back to her, without pausing as he bolted away. Still sniggering, he headed back to the supermarket to pick up the groceries – that he didn't really need anyway – and went home, only to be immediately confronted by Jill.

"Did you ask someone? Did you ask someone? Did you ask someone?" she said impatiently, her blue eyes wide. Jack made his way over to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water calmly.

"Make sure you set the table for three tomorrow, Jill. Ann's coming over to have dinner with us."

"...What? Ann? Jack, she's one of your best friends! Am I the only one who sees the potential awkwardness if you end up kissing her or something at the end of the night? Did you think about that? Jack, you promised... you don't want to ruin a friendship; I –" she sank down onto the couch, nearly hyperventilating. Jack brought her over another glass of water and sat down, facing her.

"I didn't intend to ask Ann, I intended to ask Karen. But... she's going with Rick, and Cliff hadn't asked Ann yet, so I told her she could come have dinner with you and I if she wanted. Nothing romantic about that. Now, why don't you invite someone over as well?"

Jill scowled bitterly, raising both eyebrows. "Oh, like who, Jack? Gray? Who I can't even smile at in the street because of... pure awkwardness? Or Rick, who's with Karen and..._ really _doesn't need me to lead him on? Oh, how about Doctor Tim? That way I could spend the whole evening being frightened to death of what Elli was going to do when she found out. Maybe Cliff! The boy who's so shy, he won't even ask his own kind-of-girlfriend to have dinner with him! No, somehow I don't think any of them are the greatest choices!"

"Quit snapping at me. It's not my fault that you're not as popular as I am." Jack grinned and flipped his hair back like he was in a shampoo commercial. "It must be my dashing good looks."

**xxx**

A knock sounded at the door and Jack looked up with a raised eyebrow. He'd gotten dinner and desert ready a while ago, and now was occupying himself by having a solo thumb war.

"Jill?" he called teasingly, "That's probably Ann. Can you get it? I'm busy."

Jill stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Excuse me?" While Jack was already immaculately dressed in a black suit, she had an apron on over her silver dress and her hair had a handkerchief tied around it, as well. The fact that she'd been cleaning for well over an hour meant that her makeup was smudged. The glare on her face was all it took to make him abandon his game and spring to the door.

"Hey, uh... Ann. Wow." The redhead was clad in a pale blue dress, and her long hair had been brushed loose from its usual messy ponytail. If it weren't for the fierce glare on her face, she would have looked... well, pretty. Girly. As it were, she pointed one threatening finger at him.

"Not a word, you hear me? I'd be wearing overalls if it weren't for my stupid Dad insisting that I wear something 'pretty, to impress Jack.' Oh, and I'm supposed to be dropping hints about marriage all night, apparently." The color drained from Jack's face and Ann smirked. "Don't worry, that was my reaction as well. Goddess, I'm starved – where's Jill?"

"Here I am!" Jill called brightly, posing with her hands on her hips in what she'd told Jack was 'Her Official Number One Most Fabulous Dress.' "Oh my gosh, Ann! You look fantastic!"

"I'm hungry," Jack put in miserably.

"Then help her carry out dinner. Don't be so lazy – I'm hungry too," Ann instructed, pushing him towards the kitchen.

Jack pouted. "Why don't you have to help?"

"I'm the guest," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "You're not a very good host, Jack. Anyway, I've been serving meals all day. It's my time off!" To illustrate her point, she threw herself down into a chair and lifted her chin, as if daring him to do something about it. With a mock sigh, he stormed out and helped his sister lift in the plates, then sat down with the two girls to eat. "This is great," Ann said approvingly, raising an eyebrow as if she was surprised.

"Thanks to me," Jack said proudly, sticking his tongue out at his sister immaturely. "Jill can't cook to save her life so I did the main meal... and the dessert... and the salad. She just had to take dinner out of the oven... but this _is_ slightly burnt, Jill."

"Don't eat it then." She stood up suddenly, hands on her hips. "I just figured that... since Ann is your date, Jack, you guys probably want some privacy."

"No!" the pair shouted simultaneously.

"Oh, there's no need to be shy!" Jill said with a bright smile, enjoying her brother's discomfort. "I'm just going to take a walk up the street – I'm not very hungry – and you two can enjoy yourselves until I get back." she flounced outside, leaving two bright red young people behind. Ann set her knife and fork aside.

"I just lost my appetite."

"Me too," Jack said wryly, pushing his plate into the middle of the table.

"I'll kill her," Ann said with a scowl. "She did that because you were teasing her. Well, let's try not to give her the benefit of us being uncomfortable." It worked for about an hour, at which point conversation grew scarce, embarrassment grew massively, and both people decided that a certain blonde farmer was going to meet a very unhappy end when she finally showed up again.

**xxx**


	21. Chapter 21

**xxx**

"Last day of the year!" Jill chirped happily, bouncing into her brother's bedroom and yanking open the curtains, letting weak sunlight stream in. "Wake up! The sun is... kind of shining, the snow is almost all melted, and the New Year is nearly here! You don't want to miss one second of this glorious day!"

"Wanna bet?" Jack mumbled, groggily sitting up. "It's not that big a deal, sis. It's just another day."

"Another _festival _day! We need to get ready! The New Year Festivals are the only ones I haven't been to!"

"...so?"

"Oh, don't be a spoil-sport! We used to love New Year!"

"Uh, 'used to' being the operative words in that sentence. Like, when we were five." Jill mimicked him in a squeaky voice, then smacked him with a pillow and jumped on his bed.

"Mmblah!" she whined, earning a fierce glare.

"I'm getting up. I'll tell you what; I did something absolutely horrible in a past life to get you as a sister in this one."

Jill smiled sweetly. "And I must have done something fantastic to get you as an older brother, Jack darling."

"Mmph. I'm going to get dressed now, okay?" Jill nodded sombrely, still seated on his bed. He gave her a funny look. "Okay, goodbye."

"Why? Where are you going?" the blonde asked in confusion.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, scooping her up and lifting her out the door easily. "You are."

"Hey!" she pouted, picking herself up from where Jack set her on the floor. Glaring pointedly, she began to make cereal for herself, then ate it sullenly.

"Where's mine?" Jack asked as he stepped out of his room in brown overalls and an orange flannel shirt. Jill shrieked.

"Argh! The clothes, Jack! Oh Goddess, I'm blinded! Goodbye, dear, sweet brother – the fashion police are coming and your sentence is life!" When Jack raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with her dramatic monologue, she continued. "And I didn't make you breakfast. I don't any morning because you hate it when I do, but sometimes I try when it's a special occasion, and as you've said, it's just another day. So there."

"Uh-huh. Have fun being immature over there." Jack continued various mutterings of the like while he fixed himself something to eat and headed out into the fields. Yanking open the door, he stumbled and blinked as he came way too close for comfort to a chubby, red-cheeked face.

"Eeek!" the man squealed in a high pitched voice. Regaining his composure slightly, he straightened his tie and dipped forward into a slight bow. "Good morning, Jack."

"Hey, Mayor Thomas."

"I'm to invite you and your lovely sister to attend the New Years Eve Festival in Rose Square this evening," he said with a cheerful smile. "And then an invitation to the New Year's Day Festival tomorrow evening."

"Uh... okay. Cool. Cool."

The mayor nodded briskly. "I hope that we will be lucky enough to be honoured with your presence there. Good day." He waddled off cheerfully, whistling to himself.

"Who was that?" Jill called curiously.

"The mayor. Come to ask you to go to the celebration tonight."

"Oh, what a relief. I was worried that your un-enthusiasm would result in us not getting an invite. Why are you so grumpy, anyway?"

"Because someone whose name starts with 'J' and ends will 'ill' is driving me crazy."

"Who?"

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You say you want to be taken seriously, but you're constantly playing dumb. No wonder blondes have a bad name, if there are any more of them like you," he snapped. Jill lowered her eyes to the floor, obviously hurt.

"I was just kidding," she said quietly, looking like a little girl for a moment. "I'm sorry that I annoy you so much, Jack. I... don't mean to upset you." Her brother sighed, his guilt kicking in at the miserable expression on her face. Walking over briskly, he gathered her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Jill," he mumbled. "I don't want to upset you – it's not your fault I'm in a bad mood, and I... guess I shouldn't take it out on you." She mumbled something incomprehensible and Jack pushed her shoulders back for a few moments. "You do know I love you no matter what, right?" he told her seriously upon releasing her. Jill glanced up, her eyes watery.

"Yeah..."

"Yeah." He winced, wiping away a lone tear that had trickled down her cheek. "Don't get upset, please. You're like... a sister, a daughter and a best friend all rolled up into one incredibly special person." He paused thoughtfully, then laughed. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be stuck in some ridiculously high-paid office job, married to a gorgeous supermodel and living in a mansion next to the beach."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Wow, and instead, you get to do exhausting physical labor almost all day for very little profit while living with your annoying baby sister in a run-down, falling apart, and tiny farmhouse." She pinched his cheek patronizingly. "Lucky boy!"

"I love it here," Jack shrugged. "I don't think either of us are really cut out for city life... and my only complaint about Mineral Town is that the population is so small. There are only what, ten people our age? And they've all grown up together... it's hard not to feel like a little bit of an outsider."

"I know," Jill nodded in agreement, the sentimental moment passing. "But I have to say, I don't... _feel _like an outsider anymore. When I first came, sure – Karen and I had our issues, and... Popuri didn't get along with me so great either." She paused, shooting him a thoughtful glance. "_You_ haven't been in conflict with anyone really, though."

Jack grimaced. "Except Mary."

"Huh? ...I never heard about a fight between you guys..."

"Uh..." Jack began awkwardly, wondering how much he could actually tell his sister without getting his head bitten off. "We... we just don't get along very well. There was a... disagreement, if you like... a misunderstanding... and things have been weird between us since. It doesn't really matter – I mean, I wasn't exactly holding out to be her best friend."

Jill gave her brother a reproachful glare. "Jack, it's New Years Eve. Tomorrow everything needs to start over – and everyone needs to make amends today so that tomorrow they have a second chance to make everything right. I mean, sure," she raised her eyebrows, "It's Mary. I've always gotten a kind of... cold vibe from her, too. But you really should go and work things out – not just with Mary, but with anybody else there might have been arguments with. Please."

"If you do the same," Jack added, "I'd be very happy to talk to Mary. But you need to sort things out with Rick, and _especially _Gray."

Jill frowned. "Jack, I can't. Well, I will if I can get up the courage, but... you're much braver than I am. You go first."

"It sounds like some kind of game when you put it like that," he smirked. "Huh... I guess I can 'go first.' What time is it?" His gaze traveled to the clock on the wall. "Nine. Alright. I'll head up there at ten thirty, but you'd better give it your best shot with Gray and Rick if I do."

**xxx**

Jack trudged half-blindly up the red-brick road, squinting in the cold sunlight and hardly knowing what he was doing until he actually found himself standing outside the library. As quietly as possible, he pushed the door open and looked around for the librarian. She was in her usual position at the desk, her head in her hands.

She muttered something to herself under her breath, obviously distressed and oblivious to the fact that Jack was watching her.

"Mary?" Jack called quietly, not wanting to alarm her. His caution didn't work – she screamed and pressed both hands over her mouth as her head snapped up. "Goddess, I'm sorry – I should have warned you –"

"No, it's... it's fine," Mary insisted, her dignity suffering at the fact that she'd made an idiot out of herself – in front of someone she could barely put up with, no less. "Just... next time, could you... I don't know, let me _hear _you opening the door?"

"Okay. I'll knock next time," he grinned. Mary simply shrugged, trying to look unconcerned, and failing miserably.

"Sorry, ah... why are you here?" she asked shortly, catching Jack off guard. He frowned.

"I don't have... a particular reason," he told her in a 'duh' voice. "I – well, I just... felt like visiting."

"Oh." A silence followed, and Jack said the first idiotic thing that came into his head.

"Are you seeing anybody for the New Year Festival?"

Mary glanced at him quickly, losing some of the little composure she still had. "No," she replied, and then added - to be on the safe side, lest he think she was suggesting something – "And I don't mean to change that. For anyone."

"Would you relax?" he scowled. "You're so uptight. Believe me, I wasn't going to ask you." He regretted being so quick to snap and foresaw another argument coming up – but was extremely surprised when her glare relaxed into a – well, almost a real smile.

"I don't know why we keep talking to each other. I think we both know that somehow it'll turn into an argument," Mary said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I don't fight with you intentionally," Jack shrugged, taking a few steps closer now that she didn't seem ready to gouge his eyes out. "I guess we've got clashing astrological signs or something."

She half-laughed at that. "Well... what sign _are_ you?"

"Taurus, like my sister."

The librarian raised an eyebrow. "Impossible – I'm a Capricorn. We're meant to get along brilliantly."

Jack smiled, raising an eyebrow back. "Well then, maybe we should start acting like it." Quickly deciding that the conversation had potential to move into dangerous territory, he changed the topic. "What were you worrying about earlier – when I came in?"

Mary's dark eyes stared ahead blankly, trying to remember. "I – oh. I'm... writing a novel, and I just had some... writers block. It wasn't anything drastic."

"A novel," Jack said in disbelief. "You're writing a whole novel? By yourself? That's ridiculous!" Mary looked taken-aback and watched in mild interest as he tried to correct himself. "I mean, not... ridiculous – um... interesting? Amazing. And difficult. I mean, _is _it difficult?"

Twisting her dark braid, she shrugged. "Not... _especially_ difficult. I take inspiration from all the books I read and the words come to me easily. Then again, the quality might be compromised – I can't really tell when it's my own work." She laughed – she was speaking almost freely now – acting a lot more pleasant than he'd ever seen her before. As Jack paused for a few moments during his reflections on her changed behavior, Mary shot a sidewards glance at him and seemed to remind herself who she was talking to. "Did you want something to read?" she asked quickly, the words sounding suddenly cold.

"Uh... no..." he replied, puzzled by her sudden change of heart. "I'd better go. I'll see you tonight at the festival, right?"

Her eyes widened for just a second. "What? Oh – yes. I'll be there somewhere."

"See ya." Pushing open the heavy door, Jack trudged down the road heading to the Church. _That went really well,_ he thought, raising both eyebrows. _I mean, nobody ended up getting murdered._ He had been pleasantly – and weirdly – surprised when encountered with the fact that Mary actually could be... _nice_, when she wanted to.

Lost in these thoughts, he failed to notice the brunette calling his name until he'd walked straight past her.

"Jack!" Karen yelled, reasonably worried about the hearing of the boy who had been ignoring her as she called him. Jumping slightly, he turned around and grinned.

"Hey, Karen. Sorry, I was thinking." Karen gave a bright smile.

"Thinking about what?" she asked suggestively, inspecting her... well, short, polish-free nails.

"Just... stuff?" His forehead crinkled as he frowned at her, making her blush.

"Oh, I – right. Right. Well, I was thinking too, and wondering if you're planning on showing up to the... festival tonight." She ran one hand through her light brown hair, catching the sunlight in it as she stared at Jack expectantly.

He laughed, even though he was still frowning slightly. "Probably. I mean, knowing my sister I wouldn't be able to get out of it even if I wanted to, so... yeah. I'll be there."

"And... do I have your promise that you'll dance with me?" she asked, stepping closer and glancing up at him through long eyelashes. He had to smile, before his face fell abruptly as her words sank in.

"Ahem. Uh, two things... there's dancing? Like... couple dancing?" He cringed, the way one might when asking, _There's torture? Like... blade mutilation torture?_

"Yeah," she breezed, waving one hand at him. "Don't worry, they're really easy. I'll teach you... you'll pick them up in a flash."

"Ah... right," he coughed. "And... what about Rick?"

"Oh," Karen said, her smile faltering a little. "Oh yeah, him. Well... we're really just friends at the moment, you know. It's okay, he won't mind." Her voice had picked up in pitch a little as she tried to assure Jack it was true.

"I'll think about it," he winked, turning away from her – intending on getting home as quickly as humanly possible.

**xxx**

"Jill, we're ten minutes late already. Can you hurry up?"

"I can't find my silver shoes," Jill wailed in distress, upturning yet another box in her closet. Jack rolled his eyes and pointed to a pile.

"There are eight different pairs of silver heels in that pile alone. Please just pick a pair; we're going to be late!"

Pausing in front of the mirror skeptically, Jill sighed in annoyance. "Jack, if you were wearing a red dress, would you wear gold, silver, red or black heels with it? Or... I have red with white polka dots, or black with silver buckles, or gold with –"

"I would wear those ones that you have on your feet right this second, but hopefully I never have to personally face that dilemma," Jack said in a sickeningly sarcastic voice. "Quick!"

"For somebody who didn't want to go to the New Year Festival in the first place... you sure are in a hurry. I'm coming, I'm coming."

The siblings fell into step towards Rose Square, Jill half-running to keep up with her brother's long strides. "Did you end up talking to Rick or Gray?" he asked as they passed the Poultry Farm.

"Uh... no," she confessed, biting her lip and glancing up at the sky, before noticing her brother staring directly at her with both eyebrows raised. "Hey, don't give me that look. I was planning on doing it tonight."

"Mmhm. Sure you were. I believe you," Jack teased. "Chicken." Jill gave him a punch on the arm for his trouble, and tried to flounce ahead of him, but found that she couldn't get ahead unless she actually sprinted. As that wouldn't have had the same effect, she decided to let it go – luckily, by that time they had just reached the square which was decorated and thriving with townspeople. Jack and Jill split up, one heading over to Ann and Cliff, and one skipping – that actually _was _Jill, for those concerned about Jack's dwindling masculinity – over to Elli and Tim.

"Hi, Elli!" Jill called loudly. "Evening, Doctor." Tim smiled politely, then walked off to check on Lillia, leaving Jill grinning at Elli mischievously. "So?" she asked quietly, "Did he propose?"

Elli shook her head sorrowfully. "No. I was dropping hints all night, but nothing came of it, so... I guess I'll just have to wait. He's not very romantic, my Tim – it might take him a little longer than I thought it would. To propose, that is. But it doesn't matter – I'm just looking forward to tonight. New Year has been my absolute favorite festival in recent years – the dances are the most fun you'll ever have."

"What?" Jill demanded immediately, smacking one hand against her forehead. "It seems like dancing is all this town ever does! And there's nobody here that I can partner with – who am I going to ask? I'll have to sit out of the dancing."

Elli laughed. "Don't be silly – they're progressive dances."

"They're _what _dances?"

"Progressive, Jill. It means... well, let me give you an example. The mayor will instruct everyone to get in pairs – a boy and a girl - and each pair stands next to another couple, making a really long line down the middle of the square. Males stand in a line on the left side, females on the right side. Then through the dance, you keep swapping partners down the line, so you'll dance with almost every male in Mineral Town, from Saibara, to Duke, to Stu. New Year isn't a romantic festival, so the main point of the dances is to get everybody talking and friendly – but it's just so much fun!" Jill frowned, trying to follow the long explanation, and Elli shook her head. "Don't worry. You'll see."

"If you say so..." she left Elli and noticed Barley and May beckoning for her on the other side of the square, so she moved over to them curiously. "Hello, Barley. Hi, May! What's up?"

"Jill, I'm glad I caught you," Barley said with a smile. "Do you have any idea where your brother is?"

"Um... no, I don't..." Jill said in confusion. "He's probably lost in the crowd somewhere. Why?"

"Because we wanted to giv-" Barley clapped his hand over May's mouth, and whispered something in her ear that made her shut up immediately. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Okay... uh, I'll go have a look for him." At that moment, Jack himself deigned to show up and shooed Jill away, insisting that what he had to discuss with Barley "was a secret."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, will you please line up for the first dance of the evening? Stand opposite your partner, men on the right and women on the left!" Mayor Thomas called excitedly, his hat nearly toppling off. Jack grabbed Jill as his partner, then stood between Duke and Doug, while Jill was between Manna and Ann.

"Aren't I special?" Ann mumbled grouchily, "Dad insisted on having the first dance with me." Jill giggled.

"Well I got Jack, so count your blessings. At least Doug can dance."

"We can hear you!" Jack and Doug called in unison, glaring at their partners. Before the girls could retort, a lively tune began to play and the dance was underway. Jack and Jill fumbled their way through clumsily, not knowing the actual steps and therefore moving a beat behind everybody else. Jack glanced up the line, noting the couples all the way down.

At the top were May and Stu; then Basil and Anna, Harris and Mary, Tim and Elli, Zack and Lillia, Rick and Popuri, Gray and Karen, Jeff and Sasha, Manna and Duke, then himself and Jill. Doug and Ann were the only two below them in the line, but three extra men – Cliff, Carter and Gotz – stood at the end, ready to take the place of other males when they had been dancing long enough. Saibara and Barley were at another table watching the dancing – both had put up fierce fights when people had tried to drag them to the dance floor, claiming that they were 'too old' as their excuse. If only Jack could get away with that one...

He felt Ann yank on his hand, signifying that it was time for him to pass Jill on to Duke, while Ann began dancing with him – but mostly teasing him. "Goddess, Jack! You're terrible!" she cried, nearly doubled over with laughter. "Come on, it's really easy! Step to the right – your other right, dummy!"

"Shut up," Jack mumbled, staring at his feet; hoping that if he looked at them for long enough they'd begin to do the correct moves.

Ann giggled. "Twirl me under... Dude, you call that a twirl? You're gonna end up killing someone! Right, now take my left hand, pass me on to Duke, and take May's right hand... good boy!"

Meanwhile, Jill was having her own difficulties – not with the dance itself, but upon coming to the conclusion while dancing with Jeff, that Gray was next in line for her to be passed along to. By way he stared stonily ahead, it was obvious that he was aware of his next partner as well. The instant she let go of Jeff's hand and took the blacksmiths was one of mortification for... well, mainly her; her hands were trembling and she was adamant that her face was the color of an over-ripe tomato.

"How are you?" she asked in a falsely cheerful voice, smiling as brightly as she could. The intention of her cheerfulness was to put Gray at ease, but the result was quite the opposite – he quickly stated that he was fine, and let the attempt at conversation die. After two more minutes, Gray was relieved from his embarrassment upon being given Ann's hand, but Jill's embarrassment intensified if anything when she realized Lady Luck was most certainly not on her side today – she was being passed to Rick.

Sasha smiled at Jack politely as she finished off her time with him and moved to Duke. He had improved in the minutes since dancing with Ann and his sister and now only made the occasional mistake – if he concentrated his hardest. Holding his hand out for his next partner, he was surprised with a soft, pale hand with delicate fingers and no rings or bracelets. Deciding to risk messing up the step for the sake of actually seeing who his partner was, he glanced up and nearly had a heart attack once he recognized the dark haired, bespectacled young lady.

"Hey! Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked in a friendly tone, determined to stay in her good books at least for the next few hours until the New Year.

Mary paused. "Y–yes, I... it's fine. But I should probably sit down soon... after I've danced with you... I – don't feel very well." Jack followed her intense gaze down the line and felt something that strongly resembled pity for the librarian as he noticed her eyes fixed on Gray - only a couple of places away from her.

"Is it because you don't want to dance with Gray?" he asked quietly, genuine concern in his voice. Mary directed a sharp glare towards him and shook her head violently.

"No, it isn't! I _asked _you never to bring that up. I'm just feeling a little... dizzy, that's all." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself that was the reason, but believed it as much as Jack did – not at all. Regardless, he stepped out of the dance and gestured for her to take a seat at a nearby table. "You don't have to sit with me," she pointed out as Jack took the seat next to her. He frowned, as any reasonable person would when faced with a comment like that.

"I thought you said you were dizzy. Doesn't that mean you'd want somebody to stay with you in case you get _really_ sick?" he asked slyly. Mary waved her hand absently and didn't seem to note his sarcasm – her eyes and mind were sadly engaged on a scowling young man with red hair, and Jack might as well have been thin air, for all the attention she was paying to him. Jack hovered between staying with a sulky, absent-minded Mary and returning to the group that were dancing, not sure which option was less appealing. His decision was made when Karen, indignant at the fact that he'd run off before dancing with her, whistled loudly enough to gather the attention of the whole square.

"HEY, JACK!" she bellowed, waving frantically. "Come and dance!" he rushed over to shut her up, but found that his doing so had little effect whatsoever. "Why were you talking to Mary?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Oh, she, uh... felt sick."

"I don't know why someone like you would talk to her. She's stuck up, you know? We used to be friends, but now it's all, 'Oh, I don't want to talk to you, Karen. I have important stuff to do.' She let that stupid boy get her all depressed, and now she's just... boring." Jack blinked at the girl in incredulous disbelief.

"Karen, keep your voice down. Her parents are both near us. Have you been drinking?" he demanded, noticing that she was slightly unsteady on her feet.

"Nah," she insisted in a mellow voice, stroking his face. "Nah. Only a little tiny bit. Guess what? I'm sleepy. You're cute, you know that?"

"Off her face," Rick murmured, walking up behind Jack. "You can tell when she starts to do the face stroking thing. There's still two hours until midnight, and she's only going to get worse. It happens every year." He paused thoughtfully. "Actually, it happens every Tuesday and Sunday. But she's especially bad on festivals like this."

"Rick," Karen said, narrowing her eyes. "Go away. I aren't drink. Drunk. You, my little... little buddy. You are jealous of what me and Jacky have." Upon saying this, she hugged Jack triumphantly, and lifted her chin. "You're going to be... be alone. Jill won't give you the t-time of day. And I have Jack now. So... nya-nya." Jack gave Rick a 'please help me' look, and Rick sighed.

"Sorry, Jack. She gets attached when she's drunk, and it's certainly not in my power to try and drag her away from whoever she's attached to. You're stuck with the babysitting job, I'm afraid."

"I need a drink," Karen announced brightly, skipping away from the dance before Jack could instruct her otherwise. He turned back to face Rick, who had a faint blush due to Karen's behaviour.

"How can I tell that this is going to be a very long night?"

**xxx**

"TEN!" the crowd yelled, Mayor Thomas leading them in their countdown. "NINE!"

"You made it," Jack murmured to Jill quietly. "That's almost a whole year you put in on the farm, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I can hardly believe it. Even _I_ thought I'd be crawling home after the first week," she laughed.

"SIX!... FIVE!"

"It's been a pretty hard year, hasn't it?" he asked quietly. "You fought your way through it, though, and you came up smiling. I'm... I'm very proud of you."

Jill smiled. "Thank you. I'm just glad that we're together for the New Year – I didn't think we would be." Jack moved closer to hug her wordlessly.

"TWO!... ONE! ...HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the square erupted in cheers, with people hugging and kissing left, right and center. Jill had to fight back the urge to 'Aw!' loudly at the cuteness of Ann and Cliff, caught in an awkward lip-lock. The siblings took their time just enjoying the scene of happiness around them – everyone in the square was in high spirits.

Almost everyone.

While the general 'party' scene was happening, two people weren't caught up in the cheer. They stood in opposite corners of the square, both alone, and both miserable. Gray and Mary. Jill shot her brother a pleading look which he understood perfectly, and he shot her the same look, before they split in opposite directions.

"Hey, Mary?" Jill whispered gently, resting a hand on the librarian's shoulder. "Are you okay?" Blinking furiously, Mary nodded.

"Of course I am. Uh... Happy New Year."

"Yeah, you too. Why don't you come and join the group, Mary? We're having heaps of fun, and there's always room for one more."

Mary shook her head. "Not just now. I think I'll go home."

Jill bit her lip as she peered at the dark-haired girl. "Please don't. Something's bothering you, and you can't keep it bottled up. You look really upset. Pretty please, talk about it."

"I just..." Mary began, before stopping herself. All it took was someone showing a little concern and a few kind words, and there she was, about to spill her heart to the girl who was the reason for all her problems.

Noticing her hesitation, Jill continued. "I don't mind if you don't talk to _me _about it – I know we're not really that close. But promise you'll talk to someone. Elli's always good to talk to, and so is Ann... and if you wanted, you know that you could tell my brother anything." At least that remark got a smile out of Mary.

"Your brother and I... we don't exactly get along."

"I don't get along with him all the time, either. But he's loyal, he's a great listener, and I know that if I – or you – told him something in confidence, he would never repeat it." Mary glanced at her, both eyebrows raised.

"I appreciate the advice, but I'm of the opinion that if you want to keep something private... keep it to yourself. Happy New Year." She walked briskly out of Rose Square stealing a glance at Gray and Jack on the way out, leaving Jill puzzled, slightly annoyed, and very worried.

"Gray, mate." Jack called, walking up behind the redhead. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Gray replied gruffly, apparently intrigued by the cobblestone path beneath his feet.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Well, this was certainly the most productive conversation Jack had ever had. He glanced over to where Jill had managed to bring a small smile to Mary's face, and clenched his jaw.

"Listen, Gray. I know you're still upset about Jill." The scowl on the blacksmiths face was all the proof he needed, so he continued. "If you... need someone to talk to..."

"What is there to talk about, huh?" Gray said angrily, lifting his eyes to meet Jack's. "Are you going to tell me that 'you understand what I'm going through?' Ever had your heart ripped out, Jack? Ever put all your trust, all your _love _- more love than you ever knew you had in you – into one person, then had it all yanked away in a matter of seconds? Have you? I don't think so, so don't give _me _this understanding crap." He was shouting near the end of his spiel, and now, breathing deeply, had pulled his hat over his eyes and resumed his sullen demeanour.

"No." Jack replied quietly. "I haven't. But Jill has." Gray's eyes widened for a split second, but he remained silent as he let Jack continue. "Can you imagine what it would be like – if you had a brother. A sister, in her case. And you'd loved Jill your whole life, since you were a kid, and then one day... you found out that she was cheating on you with your brother. Marrying your brother. She'd had a _baby _him." Gray shook his head and glanced across the square at the blonde.

"That's what happened to Jill, isn't it?" He looked sideways at Jack. "I didn't know that whats-her-face... Veronica... had a baby."

"You can't just expect her to suddenly move on from something like that. She'll remember Tom her whole life – she might even love him her whole life. Even though the ungrateful bastard doesn't deserve her." Jack murmured, his eyes flashing dangerously. Gray lowered his head, biting down on his lip painfully.

"What do you suggest I do, then?"

"_Try _to move on. It won't be easy, and it'll take a long time. But you can't wait for her forever – especially when there's someone already waiting for you." Both pairs of eyes followed a raven-haired girl as she swiftly made her way out of the square.

Gray shook his head. "I can't be with Mary. I haven't been able to think of her – or anyone – like that since I... met your sister."

"Hmm. Does that situation sound familiar to you?" Jack asked, feeling guilty at the look on Gray's face when he said it. Well, someone needed to point it out to him clearly. "Listen, my sister... she's incredible. She deserves so much love, and I know that if the world was fair, you would be the one to give her that love. I know you would treat her right, and if she loved you back, I'd be... ecstatic at the thought of you two being together. But she doesn't love you, Gray – she still loves Tom. You can't hold on to that hope any longer. Just let her go."

Gray simply turned and walked away in the direction of the inn. When he was left standing by himself, Jack began to wonder anxiously if he'd crossed the line – the words had sounded true, raw and honest, like a moment out a movie... when he was saying them. But now that the moment had passed, the words were still there, and they didn't sound true, raw and honest. They sounded way too harsh, and plain wrong. Why was he to be the judge? How could he tell someone that his sister would never love them? That was for her to say, not him. Feeling sick, he walked back over to Jill to see if she'd managed to cheer up Mary a little, but not daring to tell her what he'd said to poor Gray.

**xxx**

"Dance, everybody!" Karen screamed, climbing onto a table and shimmying. Jack mentally smacked his hand to his forehead. It was three in the morning and most of the town was still at the square, although some – his sister included - had gone to the top of Mother's Hill to watch the first sunrise of the New Year. Rick watched Karen wearily, beckoning in vain for her to come down from the table. She faltered in her dancing suddenly, and Jack and Rick perked up at the thought that maybe she was sobering up, but moments later, she vomited unceremoniously and toppled off the table into Rick's arms. Jack ran over to help the pair, and Karen sat up like a shot, grabbing Jack's arm and squinting at him.

"Wow, Jack! I never knew you were a triplet!"

Rick groaned and slammed his head off the table. "That's it, Karen! I'm taking you back home NOW, and I'm staying with you. You might have alcohol poisoning, so I can't leave you by yourself." He slid his arm around her waist and leaned her weight against him, then turned to Jack. "Thanks for looking after her, and sorry she was acting like such an idiot. Believe me; she's going to have the biggest headache, and the biggest lecture of her life when she wakes up later this morning."

Jack half-grinned, and decided that it was about time for him to make his own way home – he'd only stayed at the square because he felt half-responsible to look after Karen, and no way was she going anywhere near a cliff like Mother's Hill in her intoxicated state.

Although, there was an incident earlier in the evening... Karen had been jumping from table to table, and all of a sudden decided that she wanted a piggy back ride, launching herself onto Cliff's back. He had of course, toppled to the ground with the sudden weight, and Karen had been sent rolling head over heels. Instead of crying or apologizing to the poor boy, she'd clapped her hands with glee, started laughing hysterically and announced to the entire congregation that she had "just fallen off a cliff."

_That_ was one of the most sensible things that had come out of her mouth that evening, and although she had been under the influence of alcohol, Jack had lost a whole lot of respect for her in a very short amount of time.

**xxx**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you so much to my reviewers so far. You guys mean a lot.**

**xxx**

"Jill?" Jack called nervously, looking up from cultivating turnips and finding his sister staring at him blankly. "Are you feeling okay?" She had a slight frown on her face, and her blue eyes seemed worried.

"I'm... fine. I just have a bad feeling here –" She pointed to her chest, then her stomach. "– and here."

"What do you mean? Are you sick?"

The blonde shook her head adamantly. "No, it isn't that kind of bad feeling. I don't know. I guess I'm just a little disappointed about today." It was the Spring Thanksgiving Festival, and Jill had been visited by most of the town's older men – but nobody her own age, excepting Rick.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Who exactly were you expecting to show up? You've had about eight men visit you already! You're obviously upset about somebody in particular. The only people who you brought chocolate in Winter that haven't brought you some back yet are Saibara and that Won guy, right?"

Jill lowered her eyes to the ground. "Saibara hasn't talked to me properly for about a season. I guess he's just being a loyal grandfather, but..." She trailed off for a moment, before changing her argument. "And Gray's _completely_ frozen up this year. I stop to say hi in the street, and he just... replies, and gives me this _look_. It isn't a mean look or anything... he just... looks like he can't stand to be talking to me. It's..." She sat herself down on the ground and made an exasperated noise. "Do you think he hates me, Jack?"

"No," her brother replied guiltily, knowing perfectly well that it was due to _his_ advice that Gray was trying his best to shut Jill out of his life. "I think he loves you too much."

The blonde rolled over so she was resting on her stomach, and glared. "Wow. That makes me feel _so _much better," she informed her brother sarcastically. She stood up with a sigh and examined the crops he was tending, a doubtful expression in her eyes. "Want some help?"

Jack laughed heartily. "After your last attempt, I'd rather have the chickens helping me."

"Hahaha," Jill said monotonously. "I'm so _bored_. Maybe..." she pondered something for awhile. "Maybe I should go for a walk. To the beach." She brightened considerably on that train of thought. "It's Summer soon! Which means Kai will be back, which means you can meet him, which means Popuri won't continuously be clinging off us, which means Rick will be occupied constantly, which means..." she paused, not exactly sure what it meant. "Um... anyway, why don't you come for a walk with me?"

Jack shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, Jill. I have heaps of work to do today. Go by yourself or... see if you can get a friend to go with you or something."

"Okay. Bye..." the blonde farmer checked her watch; upon seeing the time 12:58, she set off up the path that would lead her past Yodel Farm and to the beach.

"Ow," Jill moaned only seconds later after being hurled roughly to the ground by a body larger than her own. She squinted up against the harsh sunlight and recognized a handsome, but mortified face. Jill grabbed the hand that the boy offered and clamored to her feet, a pink tinge settling over her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Gray told her quietly. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you hurt?"

"N-no," Jill replied shakily, dusting herself off and not quite meeting his eye. "Not hurt, no. No." He raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, and Jill silently wondered why on earth he looked so composed, and _she _was the one getting flustered. "How... are you?"

"Can't complain," he replied shortly, obviously growing uncomfortable. Jill barely heard him, her eyes fixed on a small wrapped gift in his hand, and a jolt ran through her with the idea that just maybe, it was for her. Noticing her staring at it and guessing her conjecture; but mistaking her surprised expression for one of horror, Gray hurried on to explain. "I'm... going to the library."

The revelation filled Jill with an unfathomable sinking feeling. "Oh," she nodded with a fake smile, "That's... that's nice. Um..."

"I just – haven't spoken to Mary for awhile," he continued awkwardly. "I... yeah, we haven't... we're not –"

"Yeah," she said quickly, cutting him off. "Look, I should probably..." She glanced to the side then rushed on down the street, calling a hurried goodbye to the perplexed blacksmith. Cursing her terrible luck, she stormed through Rose Square angrily, not quite sure why their meeting had shaken her so much.

"_Are you hurt?"_ For some reason, those words had stuck in her head. They weren't... especially _significant_ words, and were probably asked out of courtesy more than concern – but the look on his face, of genuine, heartfelt pain – told her that perhaps, he was just a little in love with her still.

The idea was actually inexplicably comforting. Jill could be... downright clueless at times, no point in denying it – but even so, she could clearly hear the words that Gray had been thinking and showing on his face – that, if he had a less reserved nature, he would have added on to that simple enquiry.

_Are you hurt?_ _I am._

**xxx**

The very same blonde farming failure was half-asleep on the pier an hour later, when an urgent calling of her name snapped her out of her reverie. Glancing up at the stairs leading onto the beach, a familiar female redhead caught her eye and Jill immediately stood up and waved. Her shoulders visibly slumping in relief, Ann raced over, seized Jill's arm, and sprinted her out of the beach and up the road without an explanation.

"Ann? What the heck are we going so fast for? What's happened?"

The waitress simply shook her head and whispered, "Jack wanted me to tell you to brace yourself," her feet pounding off the gravel as they skidded around the corner and entered the inn. The first thing that captured Jill's attention was her brother, standing in the corner by the telephone and yelling into it, red in the face.

"Don't even think about trying that on me! Yes – yes, she's here now but she won't want to talk to you and I'm not even going to ask her, Veronica. What? No, she doesn't want to talk to Tom, you stupid–! In fact –" he was interrupted when Jill yanked the phone out of his hand, rage boiling up inside her.

"Hello?" she snapped angrily, overwhelmed by pure disbelief.

"Jill? Oh, Jill! Thank heavens! Jack is absolutely going mental at me, make him stop!" a sickeningly familar female voice exclaimed, sounding tearful.

"You..." Jill swore heavily, half expecting her brother to reprimand her, but far from it, he repeated the word even louder so Veronica could hear him.

"Oh God, don't swear at me. Jill, I know you're still mad, but you have to..."

"You almost ruined my life!" Jill screamed, completely catching the attention of all the bar's patrons; Harris, Thomas, Ann, Doug, and Gray. "How _dare _you call me here! I left my friends, my whole life in the city, just to get the hell away from you!"

"Sis, just listen to me for a mi–" Veronica pleaded. Jack grabbed the phone back and put a protective arm around his emotional sister.

"What do you think you're playing at?" he snapped. "Why can't you just _try_ and let her move on with her life?"

"Jack, I have to tell you something! Listen to me!"

"We were both done listening to you a long, long time ago you brat!" Jack hissed, holding the phone out of Jill's reach as she made a grab for it. "I'm going to hang up, and –"

"Daddy's dead."

Jack grew quiet as his face went chalk white. "What...? You're... that's one goddamn sick joke, if you're..."

"I swear to you, Jack. It isn't a joke. You _know _I wouldn't lie about this," she mumbled in reply, her voice sounding slightly choked. "A heart attack at work... he –"

"What is it?" Jill insisted impatiently, worried by how pale her brother had gone. He silently handed the phone to Jill. "Veronica," she snapped, "What did you do to Jack? What's going on?"

"Oh, it's Jill again? Sis -"

"_Don't_ call me Sis," Jill interrupted.

"Okay. Sorry. Jill, Daddy... he died. He had a heart attack a couple of days ago." While Jill felt her heart skip a beat from shock, she felt no immediate sadness – no real emotion at all, if she was going to tell the complete truth. She could tell from her brother's shaking arm around her waist that he was crying, and wondered in the back of her mind... what was wrong with her – and why she wasn't able to do the same.

"Where did it happen? Who found him?" Jill asked coldly, blindly clasping her brother's trembling hand. Ann walked up silently and took Jack's other hand, then led him away from the wide-eyed crowd and left Jill by herself.

"It was when he was at work," Veronica told her, beginning to sob. "His secretary found him and called the ambulance, but... it was too late... so now, Tom's saying that they're probably going to cut off the weekly share that him and I get of company profits! It's just so hard on us... I – wait, just hold on a second..."

Jill tried her best not to be sick as she replied, "You selfish cow... seriously, you can go jump if you really –" There was a muffled noise on the other end of the phone as two people chatted in the background, then a clatter and some static, before a warm, masculine voice said:

"Jill?"

The blonde's mouth dropped open and tears formed in her eyes. "Tom..." she whispered, clenching her fists. The temptation to scream loudly enough to perforate his ear-drum was incredibly strong, but simply hearing his voice say her name had sapped all of the fight from her; her shoulders slumped and a tear rolled down her cheek. She shakily placed the phone down on the receiver and leaned on the counter, taking in deep breaths.

In the back of her mind, she registered someone walking up behind her tentatively, then feeling two strong arms wrap themselves around her as if to support her from falling to the floor. A gruff voice whispered, "Come on Jill," before the man led her outside and down the road leading to the farmhouse.

"Gray..." Jill whimpered, half-clinging to his shirt. "You really don't have to do this... I'm alright. I'm alright –"

"You are not," he replied roughly, tightening his grip as she tried to pull away. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, his face softening somewhat. "I... heard your side of that conversation. You're not alright – and I can't say I blame you."

"How much did you hear?" she whispered in subdued puzzlement, quite sure that Veronica had done most of the important talking. Veronica. _Tom_. She muffled a choking sound and turned to face Gray, letting him hold her as he walked with her.

"I heard Jack say the name Veronica..." he muttered. "Then when I was coming over towards the phone to check on you, you said Tom's name really quietly. The nerve..." he seemed to be talking to himself now, and his grip on Jill unconsciously tightened before loosening. "Jack seemed to take talking to them... a little harder than you did, though..." Jill blinked up at him, realizing that he hadn't heard the most important part of the conversation after all. "Can I..." he coughed, "If I'm not asking too much... well, can I ask what she said – to get you and Jack so upset?"

"Um... well -" Jill faltered, unsure as to whether or not she should disclose such personal information so soon after hearing it herself. They had reached the farmhouse and Jill stepped out in front of him hurriedly, not sure what would happen if she let him come inside in her emotional state.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really want to talk to you about that at the moment. Thank you for your help," she mumbled, looking at the ground. "I can take care of myself now." Gray examined her downcast face sorrowfully for a few moments, then muttered goodbye and walked off briskly, shoving his hands in his pockets as he went.

Barely able to think straight, Jill sat down on her bed shakily. She'd never been close to her Dad – she sometimes went for weeks without talking to him; not because they fought often or didn't get along, but because they simply very rarely acknowledged the other's existence. It sounded terrible to say about her own father – the man that brought her in to this world – but it might as well have been a distant acquaintance that'd died, for all the emotion she felt regarding it. Jack, on the other hand, was her father's pride and joy – she knew they were very close and she knew that Jack was definitely not going to take the news well. The poor guy had been crying – possibly the only time she'd ever seen him cry – in the middle of the Inn, and the information wouldn't have even fully sunk in yet.

Right on cue, a banging sounded from the door and Jill hastened over to answer it, immediately being tackled into a tight hug by her brother. "Can you believe it? Dad..." he murmured, his head resting on top of hers and his arms shaking as he tried to hold onto her.

"No, I... I can't," Jill replied truthfully. "He was only what... fifty?"

"It isn't fair."

With a grim smile, she brought one hand up to brush Jack's stained cheek. "I know. It isn't."

**xxx**

Eight or nine days had passed since Veronica's revelation, and both siblings were... over the _initial_ shock. Jack was still regularly overcome by grief in waves, but Jill had been able to quite easily move past the event, much to her horror. It made her... well, massively guilty – that it could take less than a week to be quite over the death of her own father.

The day after Jack and Jill found out, news of the tragedy had spread to everyone in Mineral Town. The townsfolk had kindly waited a few days before coming to call on the brother and sister – Manna leading the first group – and people had visited in a steady stream over the next two days. But the amount of visitors had decreased eventually, and now, the siblings were lucky to get one visitor a day.

"Jack...?" Jill called, peering into where he was preparing a meal in the kitchen. "I'm just going to play with Carter, May and Stu for a little while, okay?" Jack smiled and looked up, a good sign that he was going through a less painful stage.

"Yeah, have fun. Come back in about an hour, I'll have lunch ready then, okay?" Jill just waved her hand and ran out the door, leaving Jack to continue practicing. Ann had... Goddess, _somehow_... conned him into participating in the Cooking Festival, which was to be held the next day – so he'd spent the past few mornings dicing, slicing and blending whatever he found in the fridge. Forcing his sister to be his official taste-tester, of course. Trying to chop a particularly tough pumpkin, he jumped about three feet in the air at the sudden sound of quiet knocking on the door.

"Hello?" he said cautiously, peering around the door frame. "Ah – Mary?" The dark-haired girl gave him a cautious half smile.

"Hi," the librarian said softly. "How are you... feeling?" she continued, concern etched into her usually indifferent features.

Jack shrugged. "Coping. How about you? Come in."

Mary glanced inside and hesitated, furrowing her brow. "Is... is your sister home?"

"No..." Jack replied slowly, not sure where she was taking this. "She went out just a couple of minutes ago."

"Oh..." Mary replied, biting her lip. "Well... I'd better go, then. Bye." She turned to make her escape, but was stopped when a larger hand grabbed her own, and pulled her back a little more forcefully than intended.

"Wait, what's going on?" Jack asked, choosing not to dwell on the fact that she'd collided rather roughly into his chest. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave all of a sudden?"

Color rose into the librarian's cheeks as she cradled the hand Jack had pulled and stared at the ground. "My, um... my mother... well, both my parents are a little old-fashioned. I just... don't think they'd appreciate me being alone... with a boy. In his... house." Jack coughed directly after this statement, trying altogether unsuccessfully to hide his laughter. He was rewarded with a warning glare.

"Sorry," he said, quickly composing himself. "But... are you serious? How old are you, Mary?"

Her eyes narrowed, Mary lifted her chin. "Haven't you heard that a lady never reveals her age?"

Jack snorted impatiently. "But are you over eighteen?"

"...Yes..."

He shrugged. "Then you're an adult. Why are you worrying about what your mother would say if you spent, what, ten minutes visiting a boy?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you think we could get done in ten minutes?" Mary ducked her head to hide a reluctant smile, looking extremely tempted to hit him.

"I love my parents very much Jack," she said in defense of her refusal to go inside. "And... you know, I try to respect their wishes. I –" she clapped her hand over her mouth as Jack quickly lowered his eyes to the floor. "Oh dear Goddess... Jack, I swear I didn't – I wasn't thinking..."

"It's okay," he told her, a little too cheerfully. "You didn't say anything wrong. No problem. Now – are you going to come in or not?" Still mortified, she stepped cautiously on to the doormat but showed reluctance to go any further. "Come on, Mary. It's me. We might not be best friends, but you should know I'm not the type to try anything." His words seemed to strike a nerve and Mary jumped backwards as if the threshold was on fire, her black braid swinging behind her.

"I... I can't, sorry, I... have to get back. Just... tell Jill that I came by, and... know that you two have my sympathy. Bye." She hurried off as quickly as she could, leaving Jack feeling very annoyed, but with a smile on his face all the same.

**xxx**

"Jill," a female voice called frantically, as the blonde in question traveled down the road leading from the church. Jill's eyes squinted as she turned around into the sunlight and observed a brunette barreling towards her.

"Hey Karen. What's up?"

"Oh, I am _so_ glad I caught you," she exhaled, one hand over her chest. "Listen, are you... planning on entering the Cooking Festival? Tomorrow?"

Jill pouted. "No. I told Jack that I was thinking about it, and he just told me that I couldn't cook to save my life." She lifted her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Then he started to laugh, and said that my cooking could probably _end_ a life. And after that... well, my cooking confidence dropped just a little."

"Well," Karen said in a tone that implied that she had a huge surprise for Jill. "How would you... like to team up... with _me_ for the Cooking Festival?"

"...Sorry Karen, I don't think..."

"Oh _please, _Jill! If we put both our skills together, we could make one _amazing_ dish!"

Jill's face changed as she began to consider Karen's offer. "Well... I suppose that we can't really go wrong with both of us... but why do you need me to enter with you?"

A faint blush set over Karen's cheeks and she bit her lip. "They, uh... well, the Gourmet has something against me, I don't know why... they told me that I'm not allowed to enter without a chaperone anymore – after last year." Karen pulled a face as an unpleasant memory hit her.

Any rational person would have taken caution from Karen's words and immediately refused the offer, but as nobody could truthfully describe Jill as a rational person, she agreed with immense gusto and a beaming smile. "Okay!" she said, nodding enthusiastically. "How about... we meet at Rose Square tomorrow, and then after the category is announced, you can come back to the farm and we can cook there. That way, if something does go terribly wrong, Jack'll be there to help us out."

Karen shook her head stubbornly. "We don't need any help, and Jack might steal our recipe if we prepare it in front of him. We'll go to the supermarket after the category is announced."

Jill shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "Whatever floats your boat." Karen clapped her hands excitedly.

"This is going to be so great!"

**xxx**

"This year's theme is... Rice!" a huge, purple clad man announced jovially. "I look forward to seeing what wonderful dishes you come up with this year!" Loud chattering and hurried footsteps could be heard from all directions, as contestants fled the square to get a head start on their entries. Karen and Jill dashed off in one direction and Jack bolted in the other, while Manna, Lillia, Doug and Ann also all headed their respective ways. There was definite shoving on Ann's part – and maybe a little on Karen and Jill's, too.

"Okay," Jill panted, out of breath once they were safely in the supermarket's back room and Karen had padlocked the door, perhaps over-exaggerating a little. "Here's what I brought..." she turned her rucksack upside down and shook it, causing a huge variety of ingredients to tumble out onto the counter. Karen examined them carefully, stroking her chin in consideration.

"Alright, Jill, I have an idea. If we're going to win, we have to come up with something original – something that no-one's going to expect!"

"What's your idea...?" the blonde asked with a hint of suspicion.

"Rice juice!"

Jill looked overjoyed.

"Karen, that's a brilliant idea!" She paused. "But how do we make it?"

"Oh, that's easy," Karen replied, waving her hand passively. "Just put as many ingredients as you can in the blender. It doesn't really matter what the ingredients are, as long as we make sure to put rice in."

"Oh, good. Well, you have some basic ingredients in the supermarket, and I have... apples, a cucumber, some flour, a turnip, some pumpkin, a handful of oatmeal cookies, a couple of strawberries, rice, a block of chocolate... two eggs and... a fish," she finished, holding up a large fish proudly. Karen grinned at her.

"Cool! Chuck it all in, Jill. I can already tell that this is going to taste fantastic!"

"Shouldn't we boil the rice first?" Jill asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

Karen shook her head. "Nah, that's just time consuming and unnecessary. Trust me, if there's one thing I know, it's how to cook."

**xxx**

Jack stood back anxiously as the Gourmet approached the food-laden table. It wasn't his curry that had him worried; rather, the monstrosity that Karen and Jill had managed to construct. It was a murky navy-blue in colour, and the texture was a slimy mess trapped somewhere between solid and liquid. Occasionally he could make out a... cookie? Or vegetable that hadn't been blended properly, and tiny white grains (that he hoped to the Goddess were rice) floated around freely. He'd known his sister was never a fabulous cook, but she'd never _actually _killed anyone... before now, it seemed. He exchanged a look with Ann, then let his eyes scan the square, trying to take his mind off the poor man that actually had to taste it.

Carter, Gotz and Cliff stood talking in a corner quite happily, and the Mayor seemed to be arguing with the Gourmet, who was shaking his head. Ann stood beside him, alongside the rest of the line awaiting the Gourmet's opinion - Doug, Manna, Lillia, Karen and Jill. He turned around to see the people behind him. May and Stu were playing hopscotch, Mary and Gray were in deep conversation, Sai – wait, what? Jack's neck cracked as he glanced back to see Mary and Gray standing together, her eyes on the ground and his surveying her. The conversation would have completely escaped his notice – the topic was no doubt completely innocent, knowing the shy natures of the two – were it not for the bright smile on Mary's face whenever Gray said something.

"She really does love him," Jack murmured quietly, catching Ann's attention.

"Who loves who, now? ...Oh." Her eyes also fell on the two and a frown settled over her face. "Poor guy..."

Now it was Jack's turn to frown. "Don't say that, Ann – he could be happy with Mary if he tried."

Ann snorted in disbelief. "Oh, please. You're not the one that's seen him moping around the inn continuously for the last... almost two seasons. He doesn't love Mary, and not in a million years am I going to let him talk himself into thinking that he does. That can't end well." At the scowl Jack shot her, Ann retaliated with, "Would you let Jill pretend that she loved Gray, just because that would make other people happy?"

"She's my sister. It's different."

"Right," Ann growled, assuming what had come to be 'fondly' known among the townsfolk as her battle stance. "You listen to me. Gray's put up with being 'okay' all his life. And then Jill arrived..." She paused. "...and his life wasn't so mediocre anymore. Dammit Jack, he fell in love. You could see it in his work, his attitude... and then he got shot down as soon as he worked up the courage to do something about it. Can you say goodbye to self-esteem?"

"So what, it's Jill's fault now?" Jack asked angrily. "How come you're so concerned about Gray, anyway? I told him he should get back together with Mary, and look! He's taking my advice!"

"We grew up together, and we're a lot closer than people think. I don't blame Jill at all, but you can't tell him to do something that you told Jill not to do. You have no right to tell him what to do, full stop."

"I've told him plain and simple that Jill's never going to love him, and –" Jack began to retaliate, but stopped with an ashamed look on his face.

"Excuse me, Jack?" Jill asked coldly, surveying her brother. She had noticed Ann and her brother in a heated discussion and wandered over, only to discover that _she_ was the topic. "You've told who what exactly?"

"I..."

"The judging will now begin! Gourmet, go to it!" Jack heaved a sigh of relief at the welcome interruption and Jill unwillingly went back to her place in the line, throwing Jack a menacing glare that said; 'we'll discuss this later.'

"Will the first contestant please step up and tell me the name of their dish?" the Gourmet called in a cheerful voice. Jack stepped forward.

"Stir-fry curry rice, Sir." The large man sampled a small amount, then beamed.

"Wonderful, wonderful! The, ah, curry is just a little too mild for my liking, but otherwise, splendid! Next contestant, please!"

Jill watched Ann walk forward but couldn't concentrate on the scene in front of her, as her brother's infuriatingly puzzling comment ran through her head. _I've told him plain and simple that Jill's never going to love him..._

Who? Who did he tell that to? It was most likely Gray or Rick, but it could be someone she didn't know about. Could Jack really be heartless enough to actually come out and say that to someone? She turned to shoot Jack yet another evil look, but froze upon noticing Gray's blue eyes watching her carefully. His eyes widened when she caught him looking at her but he wouldn't look away; she was the one that had to break the contact by turning to face the front. Even when she had done so, her heart was beating at an extraordinarily rapid pace – and she couldn't begin to rationalize it.

"Jill!" Karen hissed, elbowing her roughly. "Come on!" The whole square was watching Jill in bewilderment as she hurriedly stepped forward to the Gourmet.

"And what do you young ladies call this... concoction?" he asked, his face going pale.

"Rice, chocolate, vegetable and fish juice, Mister!" Karen chirped.

The Gourmet's eyes nearly bugged out, and he whirled around to the Mayor in fury. "You promised me _that_ girl would be either kept out of the competition entirely or be accompanied by another person who wouldn't attempt to poison me! You expect me, a world renowned food critic, to consume such an atrocity?"

Mayor Thomas shrugged and held up a contract that had handily appeared out of thin air. "If you don't, we're not required to pay you..."

**TWO MINUTES LATER...**

"Wow," Karen said, shaking her head sadly. "He really didn't like it, I guess. I can't believe they had to take him to the hospital. What a drama queen! He could have at least said who the winner was before he got rushed off. I'm going to be driven crazy all year wondering if it was me or not."

Jack, Ann and Jill stared at her blankly.

"Anyway," Jill said, shaking herself. "Jack, you're coming with me this instant. We have to talk."

"Ooh..." Karen and Ann chorused as the blonde dragged her brother away by the ear, all the way back to their property. When they arrived, she shoved him into a chair and began pacing the room.

"Explain," she said simply, "I'm not in the mood to mess around."

"Explain what? Goddess-! Okay, okay!"

Jill calmly placed the butcher's knife back down on the bench-top and sat down, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "Go on..."

"I... well, do you promise you won't get mad?"

"I already am mad, and you're making it a whole lot worse by stalling."

"Uh... on New Year's Eve... I just had a little talk with Gray, explaining that maybe he should think about moving on because he was only hurting himself by staying so attached to you."

Jill raised an eyebrow. "And those were... your... _exact_ words?"

"Yes. Well, kind of. No. I told him... I told him that I thought he should go back to Mary. I told him that he might think he knows the pain of unrequited love, but you had it much worse with what happened with Tom and Veronica. I said... that you didn't love him and probably never would, and that he needed to let it go." He'd rushed through his explanation while staring intently at the floorboards and now looked up, faltering at the pure fury on Jill's face.

"What gives you the right..." she trembled, her ears turning red. "You honestly think that you can say that to someone? Goddess, I can't even look at you right now. The fact that you could actually say something so insensitive to the poor boy... and how the heck do you even _know_ that I don't have feelings for Gray?"

"You... told me?" Jack pointed out.

Jill bristled. "What makes you so sure I haven't changed my mind about him?"

"_Have_ you changed your mind about him?" Jack asked incredulously, blinking a couple of times. His question threw Jill off guard and she looked around the room before replying.

"Well... no. No, I... I haven't, but you didn't know that and you still had no right to do what you did! Now apologize!"

"I'm really sorry, Jill."

"Damn it, you didn't mean it!"

Jack shot her a funny look. "Uh, yes I did. That's why I said it."

"Oh."

An awkward pause followed, before Jack grinned. "The rice juice thing... it was a joke, right?"

"Shut up, you! You're not out of trouble yet!"

**xxx**


	23. Chapter 23

**xxx**

"Kai is an evil, conniving, _dangerous_ player. He lures pretty girls away from their families and spirits them away to live in the dungeon under his fast food shop in the city," Rick told Jack seriously. The siblings had dropped into the Poultry Farm on their way to the beach, and both were now very much regretting doing so.

Popuri stood up from her seat next to Jill, face bright red with frustration. "Don't talk about Kai like that! Goddess, I wish he _did_ lure pretty girls away to live in the city – at least then I wouldn't have to put up with you and your stupid Kai-hating rants. I hate you, Rick!" She dashed out of the room in tears.

Rick shook his head and bit his lip, turning towards Jack. "See... the only reason she's acting like that is because Kai brainwashed her into thinking that I'm the bad guy," he whispered. Jack's face paled rapidly.

"He can't... he can't be that bad, right? What do you think of him, Jill?"

"I -"

"Don't ask _her_!" Rick said incredulously. "Kai will have brainwashed her, too! It's the first day of Summer and look – he's already causing fights between Popuri and I. If you really need to go to the beach today, I strongly suggest you lock Jill up in your house somewhere _he_ can't find her, like I'm doing with Popuri."

"No!" a pink-haired young lady wailed, dashing back into the room with her fists clenched at her sides. "Run for it, Jill! It's too late for me, but save yourself!" She turned to her brother then, shaking her hair back angrily. "You'll never take me alive!"

"Grr!" Rick growled, picking up his kicking, screaming sister and swinging her over his shoulder. "Don't worry Jack, I'm just going to lock her up in the chicken coop – then I'll come back and help you hide Jill from the tanned, attractive, charismatic immorality that is Kai."

Jack shot his sister a _look_ as Rick sprinted off. "I'm... really scared, Jill. Do you wanna go?"

"I didn't want to come here in in the first place," Jill said while grabbing her brother's hand and leading him up the path quietly. Once they hit the main street they made a break for it, running as fast as they could until they collapsed in fits of laughter outside Zack's house on the beach.

"I feel bad for that... Kai," Jack announced breathlessly, "Judging by what I just saw,I sure wouldn't want to be on Rick's bad side."

Still breathing heavily from her uncharacteristic sprint, Jill waved one hand. "Kai's a... he's a real sweetheart, and a charmer at that. I think... Rick's just jealous." She blinked up at her brother curiously. "Now what did we come to the beach for, anyway? We need to get out before ten so that they can set up for Beach Day."

"I need to plant some pineapple seeds today, and I heard that a guy sells them here... come on." The pair entered the tiny house and walked over to where a man in a yellow coat was watching them greedily.

"Hello, beautiful lady Jill!" He shot quickly, grinning at Jill. He turned to Jack with a scowl. "The beautiful lady's boyfriend?"

"No Won – he's my brother," Jill said with a smile. "This is Jack, my brother."

He grinned, becoming significantly more welcoming. "Ah! Excellent! What would Miss Jill like today?"

She stared at the crate of oranges – or, counter – blankly. "Ah... I think it was just some pineapple seeds. About... eight bags?" She looked at Jack for approval, beaming triumphantly when he nodded. Won rummaged through a box and surfaced with eight yellow bags in his arms.

"Eight bags!" he beamed. "Only 4000G for you!"

"That's... half price!" Jill exclaimed in confusion, her hand faltering as she went to pass him almost double that amount. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, of course!" he insisted. "Half price for loyal customer!"

Jill thought it wiser to _not_ point out that she hadn't bought anything from Won in her life, and smiled thankfully before dragging her brother out of the store.

"He likes you, Jill. Creepy. Hey, if it saves me 4000G..." Jack teased, making his way along the beach and carrying the small pineapple bags in a larger net bag. When he didn't hear a reply, he turned to see his sister sprinting as fast as she could towards the dock.

"Kai!" Jill called to the handsome traveller, slipping slightly when she reached the wet sand – he grinned when he recognized her and dropped his bags, holding his arms out to hug her. When she finally reached him, he picked her up and swung her around, kissing her on the cheek before setting her down again.

"How's my favourite girl?" he asked with a roguish wink, shamelessly looking her up and down. "Very well, as I can see!" he paused for a moment before whispering; "Hey... who's the guy that looks like he's going to hurt me badly?"

Jill laughed and beckoned for her scowling brother to join them. "That's just Jack. He's my brother – he's been living with me since Autumn last year."

"Nice to meet you, Jack!" Kai called, holding out a hand for him to shake. "I'm Kai." Jack pointedly ignored the outstretched hand and glowered at the purple bandanna on his head.

"I know who you are," he said shortly, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Not from Rick, I hope!" Kai laughed, before faltering at Jack's raised eyebrow. "Oh... right."

"Jill, we need to go. Now," Jack told his sister suddenly, pulling on her arm.

"Hey!" Jill cried, nursing the aforementioned arm. "Why? Kai just got here, and I want some time to catch up with him. How come you're in such a hurry to leave all of a sudden?"

"Because..." her brother said, slowly and deliberately, "I need you to... uh... help me plant these pineapple seeds."

"Hey, I love pineapples!" Kai informed Jack in an effort to make conversation. His effort was rather brutally rebuffed.

"That's... lovely. Anyway, come on Jill."

"No," she said simply. "You don't let me help with the crops when I want to, and right now I want to talk to one of my friends that I haven't seen for almost a year. Okay?" Obviously disinclined to leave his sister alone with the tanned, attractive, charismatic immorality – as Rick put it – he wavered between staying with them and planting his precious pineapples.

"Don't worry," Kai said with a wink, noticing his hesitation. "I'll take good care of her, eh?"

Seeing the warning glint in her brother's eye that Jill was all too well accustomed to, she half-yelled, "Well! Those pineapples aren't going to plant themselves, are they now? Off you go Jack. I'll be fine just here. Bye!" after a few more uneasy glances, Jack finally left them and Kai swung a friendly arm over Jill's shoulders.

"Come over to the dock, hey? We can talk... pretty much undisturbed." He grinned, winking at her again. "I have heaps of stories to tell you about the city. Like this one time, I..."

**xxx**

"It was disgusting!" Jack exploded, pacing the floor of the Poultry Farm angrily. "Hitting on her right in front of me, and _she_ wasn't objecting to it at all with her damn flirting and giggling. Like... whatever it's called... feminism... never even happened!"

Rick's face had gone a peculiar purplish color while Jack talked, and now he simply picked up an umbrella and brandished it threateningly at an imaginary Kai. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go and save Jill before she's spirited away from us!"

"Um..." Jack hesitated, seeming to suddenly realize that he'd come to Rick, of all people. "I didn't really want to do the whole... crazy big brother thing, and I didn't want to do anything too drastic either." Both boys paused in consideration as a conveniently well-timed wail came from the chicken coop. "Goddess, he kissed her on the cheek and everything," Jack added as an afterthought, curling his lip in distaste.

"Kai. Must. DIE!" Rick screamed, making a sudden rush for the the door. Jack absent-mindedly grabbed his shirt collar and easily held him back.

"No... we can't go to the beach – Jill would kill me if she thought I was spying on her."

"Then we can go and spy on them without getting caught!" Rick beamed, as if he'd thought up something wonderful. Jack winced at previous memories of Rick 'spying without getting caught'. He _had_ gotten caught, of course. Every single time.

"Uh... _no_. I have to go and plant these anyway, and you should really make sure that Popuri doesn't escape..." Rick gave a small jolt at the words.

"Popuri! I forgot about her!" He took his umbrella and raced off to sit in front of the chicken coop. Jack simply shook his head in disbelief.

**xxx**

"... And of course, I wasn't about to be the first, so the eight of us are all standing there looking incredibly stupid until my ex girlfriend – this chick called Wendy – jumped straight in. Obviously the guys wouldn't let a girl 'upstage' them, and the rest of the girls wanted to prove themselves or something, so we were all completely freezing and just wanted to go home, but nobody would admit it. We spent about eight hours there!"

Jill laughed. "That reminds me of something that happened when I was living in the city. At school we had this..." it had been a little over an hour that the two had been sitting on the dock for, and preparations for the Beach Day Festival were happening behind them. Jill was confident that she had aptly filled him in on the events in Mineral Town since his leaving. A little too aptly, perhaps.

"Tell me again about what Gray said to you?" Kai asked with a smirk. "From what you told me, his little speech was pretty good. I might need to get some tips from him."

Jill scooted a little further away from the traveler and looked at her feet. "Please... _please_ don't make fun of that. I – everything he said took a lot of courage. I don't want him to think that just because I didn't feel the same, it meant... I took it lightly."

"Hey..." Kai said, touching her cheek gently. "Of course I won't, if you don't want me to. I was just kidding around with you – I'm sorry." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. "If you don't want to talk about him, tell me about Jack."

"Um... well, there isn't much to tell. We don't get along too well with our family, so he came down here to live with me. It's fun. Annoying as hell, but I'm glad he's with me."

He raised an eyebrow at her, tugging down the back of his bandanna. "What do you mean you don't get along with your family? ...I'm only asking because I don't get along with my parents – they're not big fans of my lifestyle."

Jill faltered. "I... uh, I just fought with my little sister a bit. Nothing serious." She half wondered why she hadn't told Kai the whole story, and her brain immediately answered. _That's personal stuff. Only tell people that you really trust._

She'd told Gray.

"...but Mom... she kind of hated all the girlfriends I brought home, so eventually I decided I was sick of having rules. That's how I live now. Rule-Free Man, that's my name!"

Jill smirked, rolling her eyes at him. "Oh? And how is it, living without rules?"

Kai shot her a playful smile, moving closer to her and tilting his head thoughtfully. "I was hoping you'd say that. Wanna find out?"

"I don't -" she was about to tell him that she didn't understand what he was talking about, but soon found it quite impossible to talk when a handsome young traveler's lips were pressed firmly against her own. She hurriedly pushed him off and held both hands up in a 'T' symbol. "Hey, hey. Time-out! What are you doing?"

"Sorry babe," Kai insisted, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear and giving her an innocent stare. "You just looked so adorable, is all. I couldn't help it. You're not... mad, right?"

"Ah – no, I'm not, uh, mad..." she stuttered, obviously not sure where to look. "I just... you surprised me. As I've, um, said... I can't quite... deal, with a – a relationship right now..."

"I didn't exactly ask for a relationship, did I?"

She hesitated. "N-no..."

"You need to have some fun, Jill," he murmured, his face too close to hers to be simply friendly. "Do you agree?"

"Um... kind of..."

He closed the gap between them again. "Then quit arguing with me."

**xxx**

A cheer went up as the crowd on the other side of the beach watched the Frisbee toss, while Popuri wove her way eagerly over to two people that were standing apart from the group. "Kai!" she called brightly, bouncing over and stopping squarely in front of him.

"Hey, Popuri..." he answered half-heartedly, turning back to Jill. "Anyway, I -"

"How was your year? I mean, overseas? Did you have fun? Have you got lots of stories to tell me? I love your stories!"

He smiled at her impatiently. "Uh yeah, sure. Later. Jill, did you -"

"Was your trip here a good one?" she continued, adorably oblivious. "Was the weather okay?"

"It was _fine,_" Kai said adamantly, glaring slightly. "As I was saying, Jill, did you -"

Popuri tugged on his shirt sleeve. "It's my birthday in two days. I'm turning twenty, isn't that exciting? Are you going to do my birthday dance with me? Why don't we -"

"Okay, Popuri?" Kai snapped, making the girl step backwards in shock. "It's nice to see you and all, but can you leave me alone for five seconds?"

"But I haven't seen you for three seasons..." she pouted, tears in her eyes. "I just wanted to find out how you were doing..."

"I'm doing just fine. Now that you know how I'm doing, can you please let me talk to Jill in peace?" Popuri simply turned and stormed away angrily, before somebody with a strong grip caught her upper arm.

"Popuri," Gray said coarsely, his eyes not leaving Jill and Kai for a second, "Did you happen to hear any of what those two have been talking about for the past _two hours_?"

Popuri shrugged bitterly. "No, but that meanie cracked it at me and now I'm sad!"

"Er... alright. Thanks."

The same pink-haired girl was sulking in a corner, when she noticed something that made her cheer up immensely.

"Hello, Jack!" he turned around and gave a silent sigh when he recognized the girl.

"Hi, Popuri. How are you?"

"I'm good! How are... hey, you look really sad. Are you going to start crying?" she made the final remark rather loudly and insensitively, gaining herself a warning scowl from the red-head that had walked up next to Jack.

"If he does cry, it's for damn obvious reasons and I doubt that he'd want you announcing it to the whole world, Popuri," Ann snapped, making Popuri burst out in tears yet again.

"Everybody's being so mean to me today-y-y!" she whined, racing off as fast as she could. Ann turned back to Jack with a sympathetic expression.

"...Your dad?"

"Um. Yeah. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Ann asked, genuinely curious. She followed his gaze to where Kai and Jill were laughing together. "Oh... what's the problem with that?"

"She looks... happy." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized how sadistic they sounded._ I'm pissed off because my sister looks happy? Nice._

Ann seemed to be on a similar train of thought. "Isn't... that... a good thing?"

"But_ him_!" Jack exclaimed, glaring as the traveler started a flirty play-fight. "Why does she have to be happy with the wrong people? Tom was a complete... never mind. And Rick's told me that Kai is a... a goddamn woman-eating serial flirt. She's just setting herself up to get hurt, and I'll be left picking up the pieces for her."

"It doesn't look like anything serious to me," Ann said thoughtfully. "He's only been back half the day. Real affection can't be based on half a day. They just look like they're enjoying themselves to me – oh my Goddess – hey, don't!"

Three men launched themselves simultaneously at Kai as he leaned down to give his pretty companion a brief kiss. Jill gave a small scream as Kai was dragged off her by considerable force and a pair of arms wrapped around her torso, pulling her away as well.

"Rick... Gray... let go of Kai! What the hell is going on?" she demanded, before swinging her face around to see her brother clutching her protectively, a livid glare temporarily clouding his features.

"We all saw him kiss you!" Rick burst out, unable to hold in his rage. "We're just trying to protect you here!" He seemed to be temporarily distracted by a more welcome thought, and grinned. "Hey guys... that was pretty cool, huh? I mean, we didn't even plan on attacking Kai, but I guess we were all watching and pounced at the same time, and –" Cutting himself off again, his face became stony.

"You – all three of you – were watching us!" Jill exclaimed, her face turning red with indignation. "What I do is none of your business! _Any_ of you!"

"Uh... could you guys let go of me now?" Kai choked, his face turning purple due to Gray's arm around his neck.

"Let go of him," Jill said in a quiet, dangerous voice. "Explain."

"I didn't –" Gray began, then stopped suddenly. Jack started and looked at the blacksmith in realization, his expression suddenly full of sympathy.

"Go on..." Jill instructed, squinting slightly in the bright sunlight. "You didn't what?"

Gray glanced away, his fists clenched at his sides. "I didn't know he had your _permission_," he said in a quiet and sullen – but almost mocking – voice.

The blonde blushed slightly refusing to meet his eyes. "Well, I... God, we're just having a little fun. It's nothing serious, it's... and it's nobody's concern but mine." At this point, Gray turned away from the conversation and headed away from the beach as fast as he could.

"You keep away from my sister, Kai!" Rick exploded, making everybody turn to him in confusion. "I... can't really control Jill... but I can control Popuri. You keep away from her!"

Everyone ignored him.

"It's getting late, Jill," Jack said with a meaningful look. "I think we should get home."

The blonde sighed. "Fine... bye Rick. See you soon, Kai."

Kai winked. "See you _very_ soon, hopefully..."

**xxx**

"Good morning, brother darling!" Jill chirped, skipping into the kitchen and hugging him enthusiastically. "How are you this... lovely morning?"

"What do you want?" Jack asked sceptically. Jill frowned.

"Nothing! Why?"

"You're being nice at seven in the morning. Something's not right."

"I -" she was cut off by a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" she exclaimed a little too eagerly, racing over to the door. Jack shook his head in confusion, then went back to cleaning the oven. It was when he heard the name 'Kai' that he got suspicious, and walked over to his giggling, hair-twirling sister.

"What do you want?" he growled at the man standing in his doorway.

"Oh, hey Jack!" Kai said cheerfully, oblivious to the daggers being thrown his way. "How are you doing?"

"What do you want?" He repeated shortly. Jill shot a reproachful glance his way.

"Jack..." she warned, before continuing, "Kai's promised to make me one of his famous snow-cones this morning. Isn't that nice of him?"

"Little too nice..." Jack mumbled, luckily incoherently. Jill seemed to catch the drift of it however, and beckoned for Kai to wait for her at the gate with a sweet smile, before turning the said smile upside down and hitting Jack on the arm.

"_What _is your problem? You're acting like... like Rick!"

"_You _are the one with the problem," he replied through gritted teeth. "You know you're only going to get hurt by doing this."

"Doing what?" Jill exploded incredulously. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about! We're just friends..."

"Yeah, with benefits. And you'll fall for him, and he's going to leave at the end of the Summer and break your damn heart." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep patience.

"Benefits?" she scoffed, half gagging. "Ew! Could you just... ugh! I'm not even discussing this!" She grabbed a pair of sunglasses and flounced outside, leaving her brother very infuriated.

**xxx**

"Uh... you don't look so good, Jack..."

He stormed past the red-haired waitress and flung himself down at a table, beckoning for her to sit with him. "It's Jill."

Ann sighed in exasperation, playing with the end of her braid. "What about her? What's she done this time?"

"Kai's taken her to –" he stopped instantly as Gray approached the table.

"Taken her to...?" Ann questioned, frowning. "Oh hi, Gray. How was work?"

"Fine," he replied shortly, taking the seat across from Jack. This action prompted a dark-haired girl who had been reading a book in the corner to make her way over as well.

"Hey, Mary," Jack said in a friendly tone. She half-smiled, more at Gray than anyone else.

"Hi Mary," Ann exclaimed. "It's a... Tuesday, right? Why are you here?" The librarian shrugged and Ann shook her head. "Never mind. What were you saying about Kai and Jill, Jack?"

"Um..." He hesitated, not wanting to hurt Gray, and shooting him a sidewards glance. "Nothing."

Gray frowned. "I don't care," he said unconvincingly."What about them?"

"Not much. Jill just went out with him this morning, and I thought that yesterday at the beach was a once off thing. But she's promised me that they're just friends, and I'd really like to believe her..."

"But you don't," Gray insisted. Duke pushed through the door of the inn at that point, so Ann stood up and hurried over to him, leaving the three alone at the table. Realizing that Mary was yet to add anything to the conversation apart from a whole lot of glances in the blacksmith's direction, Jack asked her opinion.

"What do you think of Kai, Mary?"

She glanced up, startled, then back down at her hands. "I... don't really know him. We've never spoken. I didn't quite understand what you were saying – is Jill dating him?"

"No," The blacksmith jumped in, more sharply than he had meant to. "I mean... I don't... I don't think so. That's what you said, right, Jack?"

"Of course they're not dating... yet. It's only the second day of Summer, and if I have anything to do with it, they'll never be a proper couple. But... she just makes _such_ bad choices sometimes. She really worries me."

At perhaps _the_ most inopportune moment possible, a giggling blonde burst into the inn, followed by a tall and dark man.

"Stop it, Kai!" she squealed, trying to keep a straight face as he grabbed her around the waist and tickled her. Jack's jaw nearly hit the ground at the spectacle his sister was making of herself. She eventually seemed to catch on to just how quiet it was in the usually rowdy bar, and glanced up to find herself the object of many stunned gazes. She clapped one hand over her mouth and Kai grabbed her other hand, pulling her out the door while she was still giggling.

Barely a few seconds later, Gray stood up with his face resembling a thunderstorm. He muttered a goodbye to Jack and Mary then hurried upstairs to his room. Mary began to chew her bottom lip, obviously distressed. Guessing her thoughts, Jack remained silent until she spoke.

"Why didn't I ever notice?"

Jack shrugged. "I guess... he doesn't really talk much, especially around her. You kind of have to watch his face when he's looking at Jill to see it."

"No," Mary shook her head, hardly registering the words as she said them. "I mean... I've known for a while that he loved Jill. But now I don't think he ever... loved _me_."

"I'm sure that he did -"

"Goddess, I'm so sorry," Mary interrupted as suddenly as she'd started. Her face looked mortified, giving the impression that she hadn't been totally aware of what she was saying. "I shouldn't be wasting your time like this."

"It's no trouble –"

"Goodbye." She turned to go but immediately clashed into someone taller and heavier than herself.

"Sorry – hey," Rick said tentatively. "Just letting you guys know that it's Popuri's birthday tomorrow, and there's a party here from midday until six. She doesn't know – I mean, it's a surprise party – so if you guys could keep quiet about it, and just... show up... that'd be great."

"I'll talk to my parents," the librarian said quietly. "I should go..." Without a backwards glance, she walked out the door with her head ducked towards the ground.

"I –" Rick began to Jack, before trailing off and growling. He shot a disgusted glare at Kai as he walked into the inn by himself, before stalking off and leaving Jack alone with the bandanna-clad man. The farmer stood up and reluctantly walked over to Kai.

"Where's Jill?" The question was cold and asked quickly, but Kai still gave a friendly smile.

"She's back at the farm now. Just so you know – she's a great girl, your sister. How was your day?"

"Uh-huh," he answered distractedly, following in the footsteps of Mary and Rick – leaving. "Stupid purple-wearing sleazy –" His mutters entertained him until he was standing outside the farmhouse door, at which point he took a deep breath and stepped inside, making his way straight to the kitchen and hoping that Jill wouldn't want to talk about Kai. Alas, no such luck.

"Hey," Jill called, humor in her voice. "Goddess, I nearly died laughing when Kai pulled me into the bar. Everyone was staring at us and we were just like... okay... we're gonna go now. We just couldn't stop laughing after that." She glanced at the ceiling with an unnerving smile on her face. "I had _fun_ today. More fun than I've had in a long, long time – Kai's really great. I don't know why we weren't this close last year."

"You probably had a lot more sense last year," Jack muttered just loud enough for his sister to hear. She simply giggled.

"You can tease me... but really couldn't care less right now." She looked almost giddy as she crossed the room to where her brother was standing and patiently sipping a glass of water. "I've got to wonder why Kai doesn't get along with any of the guys in Mineral Town. He told me that you and Gray are the only guys in this whole place who are nice to him, and I –"

Jack promptly spat out his drink.

**xxx**


	24. Chapter 24

**xxx**

"Happy birthday, honey!" Lillia called, as her daughter sleepily made her way downstairs.

"Happy birthday, Sis," Rick said quickly, kissing her on the cheek before running towards the front door, his arms full of streamers and balloons.

"Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Rick. Hey, where are you going in such a hurry?"

Rick froze, caught. "I have to... fix... a... tree."

"I think what Rick means to say, darling," Lillia put in hurriedly, "Is that he has to run some errands at the supermarket for me."

Popuri nodded in slow comprehension. "So... he's going to get the inn ready for my surprise party?"

"NO!" her brother yelled in a panic. "No, absolutely not! Uh, supermarket! Ha!"

"So I _am _having a surprise party?"

"How did you find out?" Rick blurted, before instantly clapping his spare hand over his mouth. "I mean... no..."

"Oh, please at least _act _surprised when we take you," Lillia laughed.

"Mom!" Rick cried in total outrage. "I can't believe you just gave it away!" he stormed outside, dropping various decorations as he went. Popuri took up a brush and started running it through her mother's soft hair.

"How do you feel this morning, Mama?"

"I feel just fine. I'm a little bit sad that I don't have a little girl anymore, though." The pink-haired girl placed the brush down and crossed her arms crankily.

"What am I, a chicken?"

"You're not a chicken, honey. You're twenty."

"I'm TWENTY chickens?"

Lillia sighed.

**xxx**

"Jack, can you get those chairs from over there to here? Dad, the phone's ringing! Gray, I need you to help over here – Jill, you come and help as well, okay? Cliff, that table's been wobbling if you can do something to fix it, Karen – we need those groceries really soon. Elli, help Kai with that, will you?" Ann shouted a torrent of instructions as she stood on the front counter in the bar. She turned to where Gray was standing behind her then looked around angrily for her other helper. "JILL!"

All eyes turned as a blonde scurried away from her bandanna-clad friend and over to Ann. "Sorry," she mumbled, her cheeks flushed as she glanced back at Kai and stuck her tongue out playfully.

"... Right. I want the two of you to go in the back room, then wash, rinse, wash again, rinse again, and dry thirty sets of knives, forks, spoons, bowls and plates. Okay?"

Jill's jaw dropped open. "Could you _give _us a more time-consuming job?"

"Well, that's why I chose two people to get it done," Ann said with a teasing wink. "Off you go! And if you don't wash and rinse twice, I'll know." The red-head left the two standing together and skipped off to check on the rest of her slaves – er, helpers. She winced at the sudden feel of a rough pull on her upper arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jack whispered, glaring at the girl. "Who can it possibly benefit, forcing those two into working together?"

"Which two?" Ann asked, twirling her hair with an innocent smile. "I don't know who you could possibly be talking about. Elli and Kai?"

"Jill and Gray, idiot!"

"Oh, them. Oops, I didn't realize! Isn't that unfortunate? Well, it can't be helped now!" she began to sidle away, but Jack pulled her arm again.

"That was no coincidence, and you know it!" Ann remained silent with a teasing smile on her face, and Jack rolled his eyes. "If he falls for her again and she breaks his heart, the entirety of the blame goes to you."

"Of course."

"And... and you're going to feel very remorseful for what you've done."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Are you patronizing me?"

"A little." She ducked and bolted away as Jack made another unsuccessful grab for her shoulder.

"Hey, you!" Doug called. "Enough distracting my daughter! Not until you're married, eh?" both Jack and Ann blanched and shot each other desperate looks as the room erupted into laughter.

**xxx**

"What do you think they're laughing about out there?" Jill asked Gray, as she dropped her third out of three spoons. "Damn it..."

"Are you okay?" Gray asked bluntly, making a mental note to not let Jill anywhere near the knives. "You keep dropping things. Your hands are... your hands are shaking."

"Yeah, I... they do that sometimes. So, um... how's work been? Goddess!" She dropped another spoon, then reached for a plate – which Gray promptly took out of her hands.

"I'll wash and rinse, then you can dry."

"I'm sorry," she groaned, bringing her hand to her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"It's okay," Gray muttered, more to himself than her. The pair worked quietly for about ten minutes, before the silence nearly drove Jill insane.

"Um... you didn't tell me how your work's going. How is your work going?"

"Fine," he shrugged, his throat unusually dry. "How's... farming?"

Jill laughed at that, relieving the tension a little. "I don't do a thing on the farm. I feel terrible about it – but whenever I try, I seem to stuff something up. Jack won't let me near the crops _or _the animals anymore. I can't remember the last time he let me do something to help..." she trailed off, and Gray stared at her fondly for a moment, a small smile on his face. Then he _realized _that he was staring at her fondly with a small smile on his face, and stopped abruptly.

"Y-you... uh, alright. We'd... better get these done – Popuri's gonna be here in a, um, half hour."

"Gray," Jill said suddenly, moving so that she had eye-contact with the blacksmith. He froze.

"... Yeah?"

Jill shook her head quickly and reached out for a plate. "Never mind – oh!" Her trembling hands fumbled with the dish and she reached out to grab it before it hit the ground. It seemed that Gray had the same idea, but the efforts of both were in vain as it smashed on the cold stone floor into a thousand pieces. Jill's eyes had been squinted shut as she braced herself for the all-too-familiar sound, but she paused in re-opening them when she realized that her hand was still in front of her – clutching Gray's.

"Um..." Gray said, gesturing for her to let go. Blinking in mortification, she hid her red face behind a curtain of blonde hair and bit her lip so hard that she drew blood.

"Sorry – I'm so sorry..."

"Are you two ready?" Ann called, bursting into the kitchen. Her face fell. "Oh my Goddess, who smashed that plate?"

"I did," Gray said quickly. Jill started in confusion, as Ann wearily ran one hand through her red hair.

"Gray, you should have been more careful. You _know_ they were my mother's favorites!"

"I'm really sorry, Ann," he insisted.

"How could you be so clumsy?" she berated, exasperation written all over her face. "You know how much those dishes mean to Dad..."

"Ann..." Jill began, but Gray interrupted her.

"Sorry. It won't happen again."

"Ugh... just... don't tell Dad, okay? Um... anyway, well done guys. You've done a pretty good job, but I need you to come out and hide now – Popuri's going to be here any minute." The trio scurried out, Jill sneaking regular questioning glances at Gray, and Ann wringing her hands nervously.

"She's the last one for twelve years," the red-haired girl muttered absent-mindedly to her companions, checking over her shoulder to make sure the banner was secure. Jill frowned.

"Ann, I think I speak for everybody here when I say... what the hell?"

"Popuri. She's the second youngest girl in all of Mineral Town, and unless someone new moves in, this is the last twentieth we'll have until May's – in twelve years time. Don't you think that's a little scary? That I won't go to another twentieth until I'm in my mid-thirties, probably with kids of my own. It's freaking me out."

"Yeah, it's something alright," Jill said distractedly. "You guys, I have to go talk to someone – see you later."

"See you," Ann and Gray said together, watching carefully as Jill made her way over to Kai and giggled as he threw his arms around her.

"Ew," Ann muttered, narrowing her eyes at the two. "Could he _possibly_ be any more of a flirt?"

Gray almost smirked. "You don't like him?"

"Oh, he's... interesting. But I don't think that he and Jill should be acting so... close. Especially after he's only been back for three days –"

A ridiculously loud coughing sounded from the street outside the inn and Ann shoved Gray behind the counter with surprising force, then ran to hit the lights.

"On three, everyone!" she whispered. "One... two... three!"

"SURPRISE!"

Popuri smiled politely, obviously uninspired. "Um, this is... nice. This, uh... well, it's certainly a surprise, I had no idea. None. What a surprise, hey? Yup, just one big ol' surprise, that's what this was. Surprisingly surprising!"

Karen stomped her foot and glared heavily. "Rick, you gave it away, didn't you?"

"I didn't, I swear! Don't hurt me, Karen!"

**xxx**

"Are you enjoying your party?" Jill asked, smiling at Popuri as she took a glass of water from Ann.

"Yeah, it's fun – but I'm nervous!" she squealed, grabbing Jill's hand and jumping up and down. "I can't wait to dance!"

"Oh, you'll wait. I've a half-mind to take you home before I let that boy touch you," Rick mumbled, his voice distorted due to the ice-pack he was holding to his nose.

"Yeah, well you certainly should have gone home before Karen got her hands on _you_," Popuri snapped, indicating to his swollen nose. "I'm a full and proper adult now, and you can't do a thing to stop me from doing what I want."

"I never could," Rick grumbled. At that moment, he was shoved aside by an excited Mayor Thomas.

"My dear," he exclaimed, kissing Popuri's hand. "You're the last of your generation to reach this wonderful age. Ladies, if you will?" He beckoned for Jill to find the other girls, then to go and get Popuri ready.

"Elli?" Jill called, tugging on her long blue sleeve. "Can you find Mary, then come into Ann's room with the rest of us?" The nurse nodded and scuttled off obediently, before Ann herself sprinted up, Mary in tow.

"Okay, lets go!"

"Hold on, hold on. I just asked Elli if she could go and find Mary. Now we have to find Elli!"

"There's no time!" Popuri wailed, dragging Jill and Karen towards Ann's room. The red-head and librarian followed, and Elli soon joined the group.

"Alright, let's do this! I want Elli to – sorry, Ann." Karen piped up meekly, her role as group organizer cut short by the glare on Ann's face. "You go. Tell us what to do."

"I want Jill and Mary on hair, Karen on makeup and Elli and I on getting the dress prepared! Scoot!" the girls all 'scooted', and only moments later, Mary and Jill were brushing, curling and pinning like there was no tomorrow.

"How are you doing?" Jill asked the librarian quietly as she looped a strand of pink hair. Mary looked up, a curious expression on her face.

"Fine. You?"

"I'm pretty good. I love Summer, don't you?"

"No," Mary said, with a smile directed at the ground. "Summer's too hot. Then again, Winter's too cold."

Jill raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Oh Goddess, you sound exactly like my brother. He doesn't cope with the heat very well, and he complains like crazy in the Winter too. He loves the Fall, but I think that's just because that's when his birthday is." When Mary made no reply except for a tiny smile, Jill began a different topic. "So... you like to read, huh?"

Mary raised her eyebrows incredulously. "You could say that. I'm guessing that you don't?"

"Oh, I used to love reading!" Jill exclaimed, frowning deeply. "I was never a very good reader, but I _liked_ it a whole lot. But then I got to senior year, and my teachers were making me cross-examine every single sentence in every single book I read. That kind of... killed the fun of it for me. I don't think I've been able to willingly pick up a novel since."

"You should start reading again," Mary said in the most enthusiastic voice Jill had ever heard her use. "Come to the library whenever you want, and I'd be happy to help you find something." She blinked a couple of times, surprising herself with her tone of voice, then shrugged. "You know. If you wanted to." She turned away coldly and pinned a curl slightly harder than necessary, making her pink-haired victim give a small cry of pain. "There. We're done. Go and get dressed."

"We are?" Jill asked, looking at Popuri's reflection in the mirror. "Wow – I did hardly any of that. How'd you do it so fast by yourself?"

"Practice," Mary replied simply, walking quickly over to where Elli and Ann were zipping Popuri up. Once the dress was fastened and her shoes were on, Popuri turned around and was met with awe-struck gasps.

She seemed to glow as she skipped through the dark hallway leading out to where Mineral Town's whole population were waiting for the last twentieth birthday waltz they would see for twelve years. Rick's eyes were somewhat teary with pride, Ann insisted as she nudged everyone within her reach – before Popuri immediately walked over and took Kai's hand for the waltz.

"Thank you for being here today," she whispered. "It means a lot."

"Sure thing babe," Kai mumbled, winking at a blonde across the room.

"It's just... oh, don't worry. Let's just enjoy the moment, right?"

"Right."

Popuri frowned slightly, not sure if he was being cold towards her or just distracted. Regardless, she smiled brightly at the watching people and as soon as the music finished, she turned back to Kai. "Thanks again for... Kai?" she turned around, looking for the handsome traveler, and saw that he was already across the room, trying to convince Jill to dance with him. Jill was shaking her head and glancing at Popuri, but the smile on her face showed that she would give in at any moment.

"Popuri? What's wrong?" Rick asked, as his sister walked up and rested her head on his shoulder. "Why are you crying?" Jack glanced over his shoulder, then, with the pretense of moving towards the waltzing couples on the dance floor, began to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"It's Kai. He just... oh Ricky, you were right all along..."

"What did he do to you?" Rick asked quickly, unsure of quite _which_ part of his Kai-hating he was right about.

"Look!" she demanded, grabbing his face and turning it towards Jill and Kai. "I thought he liked me, and maybe..." she sniffed, "Maybe he could love me soon. But he's just not interested in me anymore, Rick!"

The sandy-haired boy clenched his jaw, then walked forward and tapped Jack on the shoulder. "If I don't make it out of this alive, tell Mom... there's a spare roll of kitchen foil in the second drawer from the bottom." Jack shot a questioning look at a teary Popuri, then turned to watch Rick make his way over to Kai.

"Kai," Rick ordered, supposedly oblivious to the fact that the traveler towered inches above him. "Come over here. I want to talk to you about my sister."

"Rick!" Kai groaned, "What is your problem? I haven't been near your sister since I came back!"

"EXACTLY!" Rick exploded, not quite sure what he was actually trying to say. "You should be hanging around her constantly like you do every other Summer! Why aren't you dating her?"

He blinked incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, I am not! I didn't want you around her because I knew you'd hurt her somehow. And now you've decided to hurt her by not being with her!"

"Dude, I'm not listening to this -"

"Well that's a surprise. How long is it going to be before you drop _her_ too?" Rick pointed at Jill momentarily, making her stand up and walk towards him.

"What are you boys saying about me?"

Kai slid an arm around her shoulders, but immediately removed it at the color of Rick's face. "Uh... nothing, Jill. You go back to the table and I'll be right over."

"He's only going to hurt you, you know!" Rick blurted out. Jill giggled and shook her head.

"We're just _friends_! How many times do I have to tell people?"

"Ha," Rick scoffed. "I'll ask you if you're 'just friends' a week from now and see if you have the same answer."

"I'm not listening to this anymore," Kai interrupted. "Rick, you can't tell me what to do. I'm not your little sister and I'm not _with_ your little sister, so I won't put up with you interfering in my life. Understand?" With those words he stormed off, leaving a puzzled and annoyed chicken-boy behind him.

Gray was leaning on the counter, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers on the wooden surface when he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He turned around and nearly choked when he recognized the blonde, her face white and her eyes downcast.

"Yeah?" he said, frowning slightly.

"Um, Gray... I just wanted to – thank you, okay?" she choked out, looking almost unnaturally pale and nervous.

He raised an eyebrow at her in concern. "Uh, sure... why?"

"For – you know, taking the blame after I dropped the plate. You... shouldn't have done that for me."

Gray gave a half smile. "No problem. Ann forgives me quickly for stuff like that."

"Jillian and Gray!" Mayor Thomas called, waddling up to them eagerly. "How are you enjoying the occasion?"

"It's great, really!" Jill insisted with a smile. "This town sure does know how to throw a party!"

"Ah, but it's hardly a party at all if you're not dancing, my dear! Gray, why don't you accompany this young lady to the dance floor? I remember you two gave us quite a lovely display at Jillian's birthday party." He began to move away again.

"No, I -" Gray began to protest, but stopped suddenly at the thoughtful smile on Jill's face. "What?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking that maybe – oh, hey Kai."

"Hey," Kai said with a grin, pulling gently on her hand. "Come and dance with me now?"

"Er... now isn't a great time, I –"

"Uh-uh. I'm not taking no for an answer this time! You don't mind if I steal her away, do you Gray?"

"Whatever," Gray said bitterly, turning back towards the counter. Jill gave a tiny frown, then giggled as Kai started spinning her around the room playfully. Gray gave a slight cough, then headed upstairs for some much needed rest.

What he didn't notice was the dark-haired, bespectacled girl who had been watching the whole incident.

He also didn't notice her turning to walk briskly out of the inn.

A very confused male farmer watched Mary blink her eyes furiously as she ran out the front door. Debating whether to follow her or just let her go, he decided that he liked having all his teeth and chose the latter option – he had been watching his sister talk to Gray before being whisked away by Kai and had a fair idea from the way he'd stormed upstairs that Gray had been hurt in some way – but wasn't exactly sure why, if that was the case, Mary had been bordering on crying.

In the few days since Kai arrived and started to take an interest in Jill, it had caused nothing but trouble for the people close to Jack. Rick and Popuri were both angry at the _lack _of attention he was paying Popuri; it was obviously causing Gray a huge deal of pain, it would end up hurting Jill even though she didn't know it at the moment – and now Mary was distressed about something, even if it wasn't directly related to Kai.

"Kai, don't!" a shrill voice squealed, as Kai lifted Jill up into the air easily. "I'm scared of heights!"

"Mi-mi-mi. Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi!" Jack mimicked to himself in a high pitched voice, glaring at his little sister as she ran over to hide from Kai behind him.

"Jack, he's tickling me and lifting me up and chasing me!" she mumbled, burying her face in her brother's shirt. "Make him stop!" The fact that she said this in a voice that clearly stated that she _didn't _want him to stop infuriated Jack even further, and he took her elbow in a firm grip.

"Jill, I'd like to talk to you alone, please." The smile on her face disappeared rapidly as she recognized the dangerous tone in her brother's voice, and dragged him into a corner well away from the crowd.

"What's this all about, then?" she asked, blinking curiously.

"You – okay, don't take this the wrong way but... could you maybe tone it down a little bit with Kai?"

"Jack," she groaned. "_Nothing_ is going on between us!"

"Really?" Jack scoffed, tilting his head at her. "That sure isn't what it looks like. I wasn't going to say this – but you're hurting a whole damn lot of people by being such a flirt."

Jill lifted her chin in defiance. "Yeah? Like who?"

"Oh, I don't know... _Gray..._" Jack emphasized, shooting her a meaningful look. "Popuri... Rick... Mary..."

"What the hell? Uh, the only person in that list that made sense was Rick because he hates Kai and doesn't want anyone to be remotely friendly with him. Gray, Popuri and Mary are fine with it."

"Have you even _looked_ at Gray lately?" Jack burst out, catching the attention of Harris, Carter and Gotz at a table near them. "He could barely look at you without his heart smashing into a million pieces _before.._. now add a new guy into the mix and imagine how he's feeling about the whole damn situation. Popuri was so looking forward to today – she really thought that Kai was going to confess that he loved her or something, and instead she has to watch him and one of her close friends flirt enough to win like, the... I dunno, Flirting World Championships or something."

Jill raised an eyebrow. "The Flirting World Championships?"

"See! Right there!" Jack insisted, pointing at her accusingly. "There it is again – you're completely missing the point. Do you want to know what this reminds me of? Moving in on the guy your friend likes?"

Jill gritted her teeth. "Don't even say it. Don't you dare – this is _nothing_ like that."

"Well, it must be something like it or it wouldn't have been the first thing that came into your head."

"Tom was my boyfriend for thirteen years!"

"Popuri's probably liked Kai for almost as long."

"I'm not in a relationship with Kai! Get it through your thick head!"

"Alright," Jack said with a wry smile. "Let me put it like this – if we compare the situation between you, Tom and Veronica, then the situation with you, Kai, Popuri and Gray... Gray and Popuri are both in the same position as you were, Kai is Tom, and you're Veronica."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Jill shot back, causing further pairs of eyes to turn on them. "You just hate the fact that I'm having a little fun, don't you?"

"Goddess, you are such a petulant_ child_! Fun? You think that causing other people that much pain is fun? I would've thought that you of all people wouldn't be quite so selfish in a predicament like this."

"Selfish!" she exploded. "How can you possibly get _selfish _out of me wanting to enjoy myself?"

"The fact that you're hurting other people, genius. Remember, you're not fifteen anymore – you're an adult and you should have higher moral standards. You're really showing your true colors right about now, and at this moment I can see a crystal clear resemblance between you and Veronica as sisters. Both of you can see what you want, and to hell with anyone who gets in your way. Right?"

Jill immediately stepped forward, shaking with rage as she slapped him across the face with a loud smack. "I wouldn't even think about coming home tonight if I were you," she whispered, sounding close to sobbing. "Keep the hell away from me." She stomped outside and slammed the door behind her.

The half of the room further away – luckily including Kai, Rick and Popuri – were laughing and chatting, obviously not noticing the sibling's argument. The half of the room closer to Jack however, were painfully silent, staring at him in half-shock, half-sympathy.

Elli seemed to suddenly register what had just happened, dashing over to touch his cheek and wince at a bleeding scratch left by one of Jill's nails. Karen and Ann followed her, staring at the dazed farmer in concern. "Does it hurt?" Elli murmured, glancing around the room for the doctor.

"I'm fine," Jack snapped moodily. The three girls took a step back as he lifted one hand to his stinging face and sighed. "Hey, Ann? Do you think I'd be able to stay here tonight...?"

**xxx**


	25. Chapter 25

**xxx**

"Breakfast's on the table," Jack called as he walked out the door. Exactly two weeks after their big argument, conversation between the brother and sister was civil but forced and neither sibling had swayed in their opinion. When Jill was going to spend time with Kai, she would pronounce it in a matter-of-fact 'you can't do anything to stop me' voice; and when Jack did happen to run into Kai in the street he refused to talk to him - let alone be polite.

It was a particularly hot day that saw Jack faced with a decision that had the potential to affect the rest of his life. He squinted in the harsh sunlight and opened the mailbox, grabbing the three letters inside it and hurrying to get back into the cool house before he melted.

"What mail did we get?" Jill asked curiously, dusting the top of the television.

"Nothing interesting," Jack replied shortly, flipping through the envelopes. "A letter to say the winery's going to be closed for Manna's birthday, a letter from Mary saying the library will be closed next Tuesday the 22nd -"

"That'll be because it's Kai's birthday party," Jill offered, trying to be helpful. She winced at the daggers her brother shot her and scurried out of the room. Jack sighed to himself and checked the last letter. It was formally typed, and his breath caught in his chest as he recognized the logo in the corner. He ripped it open and scanned it hurriedly. It had the date Summer 14th printed at the top.

_Master Jack Evans,_

_I am writing on behalf of our company today for two reasons, and request that you reply to the second before the 14th of Spring next year._

_Firstly, we commiserate with you deeply the shocking death of your excellent father, Mr. Paul Anthony Evans. We recognize what a difficult time this must be for your entire family, and __**Evans' Computing **__is scarcely less affected by the loss of its loved CEO and son of our founder._

_This brings us to my second reason for writing today. The will of Mr. Evans has stated quite clearly that once you came of age (18 years old), the company should be left to you in the undesirable event of your father's passing. According to our sources, you are celebrating your 24th birthday this year, which gives you leave to take control of the company should you chose to do so._

_You must be conscious, Sir, that __**Evans' Computing **__is a corporation with branches in several countries. Such a responsibility should by no means be taken lightly, as you are undoubtedly aware. We appreciate the fact that taking power may well result in a drastic change of lifestyle for you, and that you may need time to discuss the pros and cons of such a change with people who might be affected by your choice. We have decided that it is in the best interests of the company that you be allowed three seasons to make a satisfactory decision; after which point the position must be offered to the next in line for it. Until your decision is made, the corporation will be run by the Vice Chairman._

_We hope to hear from you soon,_

_Ms. Georgiana Roulini (Personal secretary to Vice Chairman, Robert King)_

_This letter contains confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this letter, please destroy it immediately and notify us of our error._

Jack stared at the typing blindly for a few moments longer, his hands shaking slightly. Had he read it correctly? Of course he'd known that his grandfather and father had wanted to keep the business in the family - but after he'd left home, he figured the first thing his family would've done was write Jill and himself off completely.

"Jill?" he called suddenly, desperate to share this new revelation with somebody. She timidly stuck her head out from behind the bathroom door.

"Yes?"

"Come read this, okay?" she walked over to his chair and took the piece of paper, frowning slightly.

"What is it?" Jack simply beckoned for her to read it and read it she did, her jaw dropping further with each sentence. "Oh my Goddess..."

"I know. Crazy, right?"

The blonde seemed to be at a complete loss for words, opening and closing her mouth like some sort of manic fish. "You... you're not going to take the job, are you?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "At the moment, I'm kind of thinking that yeah, I should..."

"But what about Mineral Town?" Jill whimpered. "What about farming and me and Ann and Karen and Popuri and Rick and Lillia, and Gray and Cliff and Mary and Elli and Tim and -"

"Stop!" Jack instructed, making his sister fall silent. "I'm not saying it's going to be an easy decision, alright? I'm not even thinking about making a decision yet. I have three seasons, so can we not worry about it now?"

Jill nodded miserably then gave a tiny smile. "Hey... guess what?"

"What?"

"We're talking properly again," she pointed out. Jack grinned.

"Yeah, I guess so... and all it takes is the offer of a multi-million dollar company." At that moment a familiar jovial knocking sounded from the door. Jill's face whitened, and Jack rolled his eyes. "You have to admit that he has the worst _possible_ timing, right?"

Jill ran over to her bed and gathered up a brush and some hairpins. "Jack, please get that and _please_ be nice to him. For me."

"Not gonna happen..." Jack whistled as he ambled over to the door. He opened it and glared at the purple-clad man standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Jack!" Kai said in a friendly voice, giving a large and slightly nervous grin.

"Mmph." Jack replied.

"Uh... how've you been?"

"Mmph."

"Oh. Um... right. So where's Jill? I thought we were gonna go out –"

"Mmph."

"Here I am!" Jill called, pulling Jack away from the door. Kai winked at her.

"Hey beautiful. How are you? Feel like going for a walk?"

"Why not?" she giggled. Jack immediately opened his mouth to say that he could think of a million reasons _why not_, but the look on his sister's face kept him silent. Kai held out a hand, which she took before following him outside. She turned around briefly to tell her brother that they'd talk about the letter later on, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jill and Kai were gone from sight.

Jack stared blankly ahead for a few moments before heading inside, already bored out of his wits. He was determined not to agitate himself by thinking about the letter, and the fresh air would probably do wonders for clearing his mind. After all, there was absolutely nothing to do in the house anyway.

**xxx**

"Hey," Jill reprimanded as Kai snaked one arm around her waist. Look, we talked about this. We're not meant to act coupleish."

"I don't see _why_ we can't act coupleish, as you put it," Kai burst out.

Jill stepped away from him. "Oh yeah? Well that _might_ have something to do with the fact that we're not a couple. Listen, I... _I_ know it's just a bit of fun, but... I don't want any more rumors going around."

"Jill, you _know_ in the city everyone was like this, whether they were officially together or not."

"We're not in the city. We're in a sleepy little country village called Mineral Town, in case you hadn't noticed." Ignoring her, Kai placed his arm around her again and she heaved an exasperated sigh, but didn't pull away this time. She noticed a pink head of hair up ahead of them, and waved frantically. "Hi, Popuri!"

Popuri stormed past the pair as if they were invisible, her bottom lip trembling. Jill shot Kai a desperate glance. "Did you see how upset she looked?" she hissed, making a move as if to go after her.

"Jill!" Kai exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders. "What do you think going after her is really going to achieve? Besides, I didn't really think she looked upset. Maybe you're getting a little paranoid."

"Maybe..." Jill mumbled, obviously unconvinced.

"Lets go to the inn, hey?" Kai asked brightly in an obvious effort to lighten her mood. "I'll buy you a glass of wine or something, all right?"

"I don't drink alcohol!" the blonde exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. "You know that."

"What kind of city girl doesn't drink? I bet now you're going to tell me you never got in anywhere underage or tried anything illegal, right?" Jill turned a faint shade of red and Kai's jaw dropped. "You're like... some kind of... miracle-angel-perfect-daughter type. Jeez, your parents must have adored you!"

"Ha... oh, I wouldn't say they _adored _me..."

He grinned, stroking her cheek fondly. "Anyway, how are you feeling about getting that drink now? Just one, I swear I won't pressure you into any more than that." Jill paused briefly, then hesitantly nodded.

"Only one, I mean it!"

Kai threw his head back and laughed. "Okay, but if you decide you want another, I'd be happy to buy you a second one."

**xxx**

Mary sighed to herself as she followed her mom and dad up Mother's Hill, part of their weekly 'family expedition'. What the so-called expedition consisted of was her father examining the same flowers, trees and plants that he had every single day for weeks prior and scribbling frantically in his notebook as if there was some great difference, her mother walking briskly and calling sharply for her to keep up; and _herself _bored out of her mind and wishing feverently that she was back in her library.

"Keep up, Mary!" Anna called, glaring over her shoulder at her daughter. "One day you're going to fall so far behind that you'll get lost somewhere in the woods and we won't be able to find you."

"I think I might be able to find my own way out if I got lost, Mom," she shot back as she picked up the pace slightly. She wouldn't mind these walks at all – if her parents left her alone to move at her own pace.

Basil turned around, then grinned. "Jack!" he called joyfully, staring directly at his daughter.

"No, Daddy. My name is _Mary_."

"Hello Basil," a male voice replied from a little further down the hill. "Anna, Mary." Both women turned about quizzically and Anna smiled, recognizing the young farmer.

"Jack!" she said loudly, "What brings you here this morning?"

He shrugged. "I felt like taking a walk, so instead of going into town I came here. I wasn't expecting that anyone else... do you three come here often?"

"Every Monday," Basil replied cheerfully. "I study the flora of these parts and on Monday, the whole family helps out."

"Will you come along and join us?" Anna put in with an eager smile. Jack laughed.

"Thanks, but you're walking a little fast for me, I think. I prefer taking my time."

Anna's eyes lit up as an idea formed in her head. "Oh! Well – why don't you have a short walk and keep my Mary company? She's always dragging behind, but I hate letting her go off by herself. No matter how she argues, she _is _a young lady and could easily get lost or attacked by wild animals. Don't you agree with me, Jack?" The librarian's eyes flickered dangerously as she began to retort, but Jack quickly stepped in in an effort to prevent a blow-up.

"Well if you ask me, Mary seems capable enough... but obviously the fact that you worry shows that you care about her a whole lot." Anna had frowned at his first words, but was well mollified with his last, giving a smile and a small nod. "As for walking with her... I'd be very happy to, but I think the question is whether or not she'll let me," he finished with a twinkle in his eye. Basil and his wife laughed, as if Jack had said something completely ridiculous.

"Let you?" Basil boomed, "Of course she'll let you! Won't you, Mary?"

"Dad, I -"

"See Jack? I told you, she'd be delighted! You kids don't stray off the path now, all right?"

"Mary, darling," Anna said quickly, pulling her scowling daughter aside and whispering to her, "Do smile at him. You look so pretty when you smile, and he really is a _charming _boy..."

"Mom!" Mary replied incredulously, her scowl only growing deeper.

"Come on, Anna!" Basil called loudly. "There's a bunch of wild flowers just a little bit further on that had a peculiar marking on the third petals yesterday, and I think there could be..."

Mary shot Jack a half-grimace, half-apologetic glance while she loosened a pebble in the earth with her polished shoe. "I'm, uh... sorry about that. I wish you hadn't encouraged them, though."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Uh, excuse me? Sorry, but I mustn't have been listening to myself properly. How exactly was I _encouraging_ them?"

"You just... ugh." Mary made an exasperated noise and began walking quickly, as if doing so would rid her of him, and her confusion. Jack caught up and grabbed her shoulder, though she immediately shrugged him off and took a step in front again.

"Hey, I promised your parents that I'd walk with, and not let anything happen to you. If I really bother you that much, I'll just walk silently near you and you don't have to acknowledge me in any way. Or alternatively, you could stop being such a stuck-up_ princess_ and actually try to hold a decent conversation with me for once, because either way, I am NOT leaving."

His words startled the girl so much that she fell into complete silence, her dark eyes surveying him - not angrily, but questioningly. She still didn't speak as he stepped up beside her with a half-smirk on his face, no doubt well pleased at his little 'victory' over the witty librarian. "You're... different," she said, her voice sudden and quiet.

"Different, huh? I guess I could take that as a compliment or as an insult."

"I guess you could." Under the pretense of examining a cluster of herbs, Mary took quick steps away from him, but he followed almost immediately and hovered about a meter back with an amused smile.

"So which is it?" he asked, legitimately curious. Mary rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Which _what_, Jack?"

"Was it a compliment or an insult?"

A light blush fell over Mary's cheeks and she glanced away, apparently interested in a tree this time. "Well... both, I suppose."

Extremely interested by now, the farmer ducked down beside her. "Want to elaborate on that?"

"No. Do I have to?" she asked, a woeful tone to her voice. Jack nodded seriously and she smirked, looking at the ground. "Maybe my first impression of you was a little... misleading."

It was Jack's turn to raise a surprised eyebrow. "Thanks Mary. It means a lot."

She glared teasingly and started to walk away again, before suddenly glancing over her shoulder. "I didn't necessarily mean that as a good thing, you know."

Jack stopped in his tracks and glared, giving her the opportunity to laugh and walk off once again.

**xxx**

"No. That's enough," Ann instructed as she forcefully pulled away Jill and Kai's drinks. "I'm not going to stand by and be the means of one of my best friends getting blind drunk - especially with her present company."

"Come on, Ann!" Kai said loudly, winking at her. "What do you think is going to happen if you let us have just one more drink?"

The waitress leaned over the counter so that she was glaring just centimeters away from Kai. "First, I think one more drink will stretch into two more drinks. Then two more drinks will stretch into five more drinks. _Then _by that time, she's going to be completely wasted and after that... I don't want to imagine."

"Oh Annie, play nice!" Jill begged, swaying slightly on her chair. "Kai's a perfect gentleman, aren't cha, Kai? But I don't want any more, anyway. I told _him,_" she jerked her thumb in Kai's general direction, "That I'd only have one... and I've had a lot more than that."

"Only three drinks, Jill!" the traveler insisted. "I've had five and they're not affecting me one bit."

"But she doesn't drink!" Ann exploded. "Three is more than enough for her if she's not used to it. She's fairly tipsy, in case you hadn't noticed. Quit trying to persuade me, because you're not getting anything else! Now... Jill. Are you right to walk home by yourself? 'Cause if Cliff or Gray are here, I can ask them to help you –"

"I'll take her, obviously!" Kai said, affronted.

"I'm... not sure I trust you to go home with her..." the red-head declared suspiciously. At that moment, the crashing of several pots, a loud curse and the call of Ann's name sounded from Doug in the kitchen and she started towards the noise, before turning back and glowering. "It should only take ten minutes for you to get her home and come back. I'll give you five, then I want you here, _showing _me that you're back. Understand?" She scurried off as Doug called her again, and Kai turned to Jill with a smirk on his face.

"She drives me crazy sometimes. How about you?"

"She's just bossy," Jill said with a smiley-frown. "But I love her anyway. I didn't like the way she talked to me though, like I'm all drunk... I feel just fine. Just a little sleepy. And dizzy." She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, I don't feel too good at all."

"Hey, I think you should have a quick rest before you try to walk home," Kai put in hurriedly. "Why don't you relax upstairs for awhile?" Jill blinked dubiously a couple of times before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, okay. Just for a minute though - I think I just need to lie down for a couple of seconds." Kai helped her up the stairs and into the room he shared with Cliff and Gray - both of whom seemed to be out that afternoon.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked, slipping both his arms around her waist. Jill pulled away and scowled.

"I'd cl-classify that as, um, coupleish behavior, Mister."

"I'd classify it as _fun_, Miss," Kai scoffed. "Don't start being like this." He wrapped his arms around her again and kissed her on the cheek, making her wince.

"Listen..." she began unsurely, before the traveler grabbed her face and turned it towards him.

"Shh. Listen nothing." He kissed her on the lips rather roughly, but Jill pushed herself off him yet again.

"Stop, alright?"

"For Goddess's sake, what is _wrong_ with you at the moment?"

"I –" Jill began, clenching her hands into fists and glaring at him indignantly. Kai kissed her again and she gave a small whimper. "Please... you're scaring me..."

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" an angry voice burst out, making Kai leap away from Jill faster than any of her weak protests could. The blonde buried her head in her hands, dashing past the blacksmith who was fuming in the doorway. He glanced her way as she pushed out into the hallway, but immediately turned back to Kai and stepped forward threateningly.

"What did you do to her? Don't think about lying – if you don't tell me the truth, she will." Gray's voice sounded level and calm - but it was the type of calm that could turn to blind rage in a matter of seconds, if provoked. Kai took a large step back and held both of his hands up defensively.

"Hey, nothing happened, alright? We were just messing around a bit... but she freaked out all of a sudden. I swear."

"She looked like she was in pieces, from what I could see."

"Please... sure, she had a drink or two but nothing that would... y'know, affect her judgment or whatever."

Gray surveyed the traveler in contempt and disgust... what he wouldn't give to punch that smug look off his face... but Jill was the main priority at the moment. He needed to find out if she was okay before he gave in to his temptation to knock Kai clear back onto his pirate ship. He scoffed angrily and turned outside the room, glancing left and right for a blonde head of hair. He located Jill sitting on the top stair, her face still buried in her hands.

"Goddess, Gray... you scared me..." she murmured, starting suddenly when she noticed he was standing by her shoulder. She winced under his glare. "L-listen, I..."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gray snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "We all know that Kai has a reputation, yet you go and practically hand yourself to him."

"But I -"

"No, damn it Jill, you listen to me," he growled, making the blonde cower a little more. "I know that you've been drinking, and I don't doubt that most of this was Kai's fault – but you're a complete idiot for getting into this state."

"I'm sorry, okay? I know I took it too far, and -"

"Yeah. Just a little."

"Hey, why do you even care?" Jill asked in annoyance. At the crestfallen look on Gray's face, she bit her lip, wanting to take back her stupid words. "I mean... well." A long pause followed which Gray spent looking determinedly away from her. As she opened her mouth to speak, he cut across.

"Look, do you need help getting home or what?"

"Umm... no..." She stood up unsteadily and stumbled down the stairs, clinging to the wall as she made her way down. The blacksmith sighed and followed her down, slipping one arm around her waist and holding her hand over his shoulder with the other. She didn't protest, and together they carefully made their way out of the inn, being stopped by Ann in their attempt.

"Care to explain?" she asked, a genuinely puzzled expression on her face. "I mean, she was meant to be home about fifteen minutes ago, so..."

"Ask Kai," Gray muttered sullenly as he moved around the waitress. Her eyes narrowed as she gathered Gray's meaning, and she slammed her fist into her palm to signify just what was coming to Mr. Tan-Man.

**xxx**

"Thanks," Jill murmured as they approached her door. Gray grunted in reply as he let her go, and turned to walk away before the blonde called his name miserably. "...Gray?"

"What?"

"Don't be mad at me... I didn't mean for it to go this far. I was just trying to have some fun, but..."

"Huh."

"Please don't be angry, if -"

The blacksmith held up a hand to stop her. "I'm not angry. Just... _really_ disappointed. I thought you were better than that."

"_Better than that_? Gray, it's not like I murdered a litter of puppies or something –"

"Why the hell," he began, "Are you too damn stubborn to ever just admit that you've done the wrong thing?"

"Why is everyone acting like me and Kai spending time together is the most horrendous thing imaginable?"

"You know what?" Gray snapped, pulling his hat down over his eyes, "I've had it with your damn selfishness. Maybe you're not the girl I thought you were." He turned and stormed off, and Jill simultaneously stormed into her house. While _she _burst into tears once she was safely out of view, _he _simply picked up momentum as he walked briskly back to the inn, his annoyance clear to all people that passed him. Even Manna refrained from informing him in the longest and most time-consuming way possible that she was on her way to Rose Square in a hurry and didn't have time to chat - but the way she half-skipped off eagerly showed that the rumor mill would be in full swing that afternoon. Once he was inside the inn he began to stomp upstairs threateningly, but a small hand caught his wrist and pulled him back with surprising force.

"Hey," Ann said with a tiny smile. His demeanor remained stony, and Ann changed hers to match. "Look, I talked to – and punched – the bastard, and he actually is pretty upset about the whole thing. Maybe you should calm down before you guys talk."

"I am calm," Gray insisted as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. The waitress raised an eyebrow.

"Look, I dunno what exactly happened between them - and I sure as heck don't want to - but they'd both had a few drinks and I doubt they really registered whatever they were doing."

Gray simply shook his head and headed upstairs, leaving the red-head at the bottom wondering if the inn was liable for any blacksmith-related injuries or deaths that could occur to bandanna wearing travelers.

Kai glanced up fearfully from where he was sitting at the small table in his room, his worries answered when he recognized the guy glowering at him. "Um... hi..."

"What did you do to her?"

"N-nothing... look, all I did was kiss her, okay? I swear. I like her a lot, and I'd never intentionally scare or hurt her."

Gray's voice faltered in his next words. "You mean you... 'like' like her?"

Kai laughed. "We're just good friends. Don't get so uptight."

"Uptight?" Gray asked incredulously, stepping forward. "Why would you say that?"

"Hey, how you feel about the girl is none of my business. All I'm saying is that you can't blame me for having a relationship with her that you'd kill for."

"I'd rather die than hurt her like you will. If she... falls in love," He choked on the words, "With you... what are you going to do?"

Kai winked. "Hey, Summer's gonna be over soon. I've got girls in love with me on every continent... another one's not gonna change anything."

Gray let out a violent curse and moved aggressively towards Kai, who ducked around him and bolted for the door. The blacksmith's legs felt as heavy as the metal he shaped. He collapsed onto his bed, fury coursing through him.

It was at times like this when all he wanted was to be able to just move on. Forget all about Jill - forget her voice, her laugh, her annoying habits and her adorable habits, her naivety and her unique outlook, her pout and her smile... but it felt like forgetting would kill him. She had literally changed his life, even though he'd never asked for her to do anything of the sort.

The problem however, was that once a life is changed by something like love, it's damn near impossible to change it back. And even harder when deep down, you don't _want _to forget. Hell, he loved her right now more than ever despite what had happened today.

Unfortunately, that was never going to be enough to make her feel the same way.

Jill stifled another sob as she blankly stared at the television screen, biting her nails until the edges were jagged and weak. She wasn't exactly sure why the day had affected her so much, but it had - and Gray's words about her selfishness had hit home hard. After all, Jack had said almost the exact same thing so there must be a fair bit of truth in it. It was just... Gray would never yell at her, never _hurt _her, unless he had a really good reason for it. She'd given him a reason with her behavior today, that much was obvious. Inwardly groaning at the awkward talk she'd need to have with Kai, she directed her eyes towards the doorway as Jack came in grinning.

"Hey, you."

"Hey," Jill whispered, pretending to be incredibly absorbed in a report on renovating stables.

"How was your day?"

"Um... how was yours?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Is there a reason you didn't answer my question, or should I just let it go?"

"Let it go, please."

Jack shrugged and headed off to the bathroom, leaving the blonde to ponder her confusion further. A total mix of feelings were clouding her reasoning, and she really couldn't account for her emotional state over a little argument. Whenever she thought about the disappointment in the blacksmith's eyes her chest tightened almost painfully. It seemed however, that at least one good thing had come out of this mess.

She was finally ready to admit that she was wrong.

**xxx**


	26. Chapter 26

**xxx**

Jack was _angry_.

He sat on his bed, arms folded defiantly over his chest as Jill pleaded with him. "_Jack_... all you have to do is be nice to Kai for a few hours. It won't kill you! Please get dressed..."

"I won't do it. I'll stay home and you go to the inn. He won't notice that I'm not there."

"He will! If I'm there and you're not, everyone's going to notice. Do you think you're making a statement or something by not coming?"

"Uh... yes..."

"It's his birthday. Would you like it if Kai didn't show up to _your_ birthday?"

"If he did show up to mine, there'd be a window with a Kai-shaped hole in it by the end of the day."

"Jack!"

"Jill! Also, you're not telling me why you two haven't talked recently. Did you have a fight...?"

"We have too talked," the blonde retorted defensively. "Why would you think we had a fight?"

"You sound mighty guilty..." Jack teased, totally unaware of how much truth was in his statement. His sister stomped a foot in frustration and stormed off, shouting at him to hurry up and get ready as she went.

It was uncomfortable for her, keeping what had happened between Kai and her from her brother. There was very little that Jack didn't know about her, simply because she trusted him more than anyone else. But she knew that if _he _knew... well, he would pretty much murder Kai. Literally.

She actually had talked to Kai a little, but it had been unbearably mortifying. She believed that he hadn't meant to disrespect or harm her, and he _had _apologized profusely, but no amount of apologizing or explaining could wipe away the awkwardness completely. But it was the 22nd day of Summer - Kai's birthday - and it was her duty as a friend to be there for him, even if her going could potentially result in disaster.

"I'm ready. Happy?" Jack asked sulkily. Jill smirked at his discomfort in a neatly pressed, short sleeved shirt and nice jeans.

"I am happy. I got you out of those damn overalls. Good boy!"

"I don't wanna gooooo..." he whinged, doing a freakishly good job of channeling Stu in a whiny mood. "Why do I have tooooo?"

"Because I'm the woman of the house and I say so. You're such a baby! Look, all you have to do is say 'Happy birthday, Kai' and then you're free to spend the rest of the party avoiding him."

"Fine..." Jack exhaled. He'd been fighting his sister's insisting that he should show up to stupid Kai's stupid party, but the truth be told, he was actually quite curious to see how Jill would behave around him. He wasn't an idiot - he could tell that something was amiss with her behavior towards Kai. Clearly something had happened, but he didn't want to pressure Jill into telling him. She would tell him when she felt comfortable, and he'd just have to wait until then.

**xxx**

"Happy birthday, Kai," Jack said in a sarcastically high pitched and sweet voice, batting his eyelashes at the confused traveler. Jill scowled at her brother's back as he walked off, then turned towards Kai with a nervous grin.

"Hey. Happy birthday," she said, handing him a small gift. Kai thanked her and moved as if he was going to kiss her on the cheek, but pulled back hurriedly at the last minute, making the pair blush with embarrassment. "I have to go," Jill articulated through her stammering, racing over to Jack who was watching with raised eyebrows.

"That looked awkward," he pointed out. Jill narrowed her eyes.

"You think?"

"I think."

"No you don't," she muttered as stalked over to some friends. Jack stuck his tongue out behind her back, then followed her over to Ann and a grumpy looking 'My-sister-forced-me-to-be-here-under-threat-of-painful-death' Rick.

"My sister forced me to be here under threat of painful death," Were the first words called as Rick noticed the farmer. Jack nodded grimly.

"I figured. Why do they force us when they know the evening could result in a potential fight or something worse? I will never understand the female mind. That's probably why I understand Ann so well." The tomboy glared and swatted at Jack's head playfully, making him duck for cover.

"I don't believe that you don't understand girls - you're practically one yourself," she teased, laughing as he rubbed his arm in protest at her punches.

"Not my fault you hit like a body-building man."

"Okay, this conversation really is _riveting_, but can we talk about something that I can be a part of?" Rick requested. Ann nodded and drew her arm back.

"Okay. I'll hit you and you tell me if I hit like a guy."

"I was thinking a little further away from that topic," he said quickly, obviously not wanting to test Jack's analysis.

"Anyone seen Mary?" Jack asked suddenly, causing both of his friends and his sister to give him funny looks.

"Yeah... she was over there with her parents a couple of minutes ago. Why?" Jill asked curiously.

"Ah - just wondering. You know, if she got away from the library or whatever..."

"Right..." Rick said slowly, turning back towards Ann. "Anyway, did you hear about - hey, where's Jack going?"

The waitress watched Jack walk off quickly and shook her head, a smile on her face. "The Goddess knows."

**xxx**

"Jill?" Kai asked, in a quiet voice unlike his own. "I think we need to talk. Can we...?"

Jill hesitated, before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I guess so." He made a move to go upstairs but she froze up, making him blush with embarrassment.

"Oh, right... well where can we go?"

"It's okay. Lets just go upstairs, I know you won't...um...you know." She led the way up, then stood right in front of the door to Kai's room with her arms crossed. "No offense, but I'd kind of rather not go into the room."

"Uh... yeah, fair enough. So."

"So."

"...Jill, I'm so sorry."

"It's -"

"Let me finish. I pressured you to drink, and I came on to you when you... like, didn't want me to... but I swear to the Goddess, I didn't want to freak you out."

"Well, you did," she replied with a shaky laugh. "Look, it was just a stupid thing for both of us. There's no point in dwelling on it."

"Easier said than done."

"I know." A long pause followed, before; "Happy birthday again, by the way."

Kai smirked. "Thanks. It's going exactly how I expected it to."

The blonde shook her head in amusement. "Undoubtedly. Sit down and talk to me." Kai slumped down against a wall and grinned at Jill, a hint of his cheekiness back. "When are you leaving?"

He paused briefly, then said; "Second of Autumn, I think."

"You think? Shouldn't you have it organized by now?"

"Well... to tell you the truth, a part of me was thinking I should stay a little longer. Well, a lot longer, actually."

"Oh? I always figured that you couldn't stand to be in one place for long. Didn't like commitment."

She seemed to have touched a nerve, because Kai gave a tired sigh and tilted his head upwards, his eyes closed. "I just... I feel like... I'm not tied down anywhere, but... oh, don't worry."

"Go on..."

"It's stupid."

"You really think I'm one to call other people's thoughts stupid? Tell me."

"I feel like I'm trapped... _because _I'm not tied down anywhere. Damn it, that made so much more sense in my head. Goddess, I - I just have a good time and don't think about the important things, but... that's not what I really want. What am I even talking about? Just - ugh. It's frustrating to think about." He rubbed his eyes roughly with one hand and exhaled slowly.

_**Close your eyes so you don't feel them, they don't need to see you cry.**_

"That's not stupid," Jill insisted quietly. "It's actually one of the most sensible things I've ever heard you say."

Kai laughed. "I think what I meant to say is that... it's a lonely way to live."

"Stay here then," the blonde said seriously.

_**I can't promise I will heal you, but if you want to, I will try.**_

"I can't. Not forever. I don't think this is where I want to live. It's nice, but... small. Not enough society."

"Quality over quantity."

"Don't you get sick of it here sometimes, Jill?" he asked suddenly. "Don't you get homesick? Don't you want to see the city again, have thousands of shops and places to eat and forms of entertainment to chose from? See hundreds and hundreds of different people every day instead of the same thirty or so day in, day out?"

"Of course I miss all that," she whispered. "Jack does too, even though he doesn't say it. But... we love it here."

"Why don't you come back with me?" he said, getting slightly carried away. "Just for a little while, go home for a visit."

_**You were there for Summer dreaming, and you gave me what I need...**_

"No, Kai."

He nodded in immediate acceptance with a sad smile. "I knew you'd say that."

_**And I hope you find your freedom, for eternity.**_

"Deep down we're both looking for stability, and that's something that we'd never find in each other."

"I know," he sighed. "We really screwed up this Summer, didn't we?"

The farmer giggled. "Uh, 'screwed up' doesn't even begin to cover it. Immature... reckless... selfish..."

"Okay, you can stop now," Kai intervened. "A lesson well learned, I'd say."

"Right," she nodded. "Should we go back downstairs? I bet everyone's wanting to wish you a happy birthday."

"Yeah, okay. And... thanks for teaching me a well-needed lesson."

"Ditto."

"Friends?" He asked, holding out an elbow.

Jill smiled. "Of course." She took the arm he offered and allowed him to escort her downstairs, then they went their different ways.

**xxx**

Gray stood in the middle of the noisy, crowded room, wishing feverently that he hadn't left the comfort of his room upstairs. Karen raced past him in an alcohol-induced frenzy, giggling hysterically as she whipped the hat off the top of his head. She was singing loudly to a song that was most probably being made up on the spot as she twirled giddily, unfortunately knocking somebody and herself over in the process. Stifling a snort of laughter, the blacksmith walked over to help up the pair and retrieve his hat – but when he recognized the purple bandanna that Karen's victim was wearing, he turned on his heel and strolled in the other direction, whistling innocently as he went.

"Mary, have you seen my brother?" Jill asked in concern as she approached the librarian who was sitting at a table by herself, looking bored out of her wits. Mary frowned and shook her head wordlessly, making Jill sigh. "Damn it... I thought he was with you. Where the heck has he gone?"

The librarian had to raise an eyebrow. "_Why_ would you think he was with me?"

"No particular reason... he was just asking about you earlier and I thought maybe -"

"What did he ask?"

Jill stared ahead blankly, trying to remember. "Um... I think he just asked where you were... nothing important."

"Okay. Yes. No, I haven't seen him," Mary said in a peculiar voice.

The blonde raised both eyebrows. "Right... anyway, he's probably gone home. He didn't want to come in the first place, you know." She laughed lightly, then her face became serious. "Don't sit over here by yourself. Come over to my table on the other side of the room - Ann, Popuri and Rick are all over there. And, uh..." she faltered as a certain red-haired blacksmith said a few words to Ann, then joined the group. "And... well, Gray, I guess."

"Sure. Thank you," the librarian agreed immediately, standing up and moving over towards the six-seated table. Jill grabbed Mary's arm and pulled her back with a nervous smile.

"You know what? There's nothing wrong with sitting right here. I think we should - should - there's really no need to go sit down with - oh, never mind. Come on."

"Are you feeling all right?" Mary asked sceptically, referring to the blonde's obvious apprehension. When the farmer gave a sigh and an attempt at an upbeat nod, Mary led the way over to the table. She quickly sat down in the chair to the right of Gray, leaving Jill to take the only chair left; facing the blacksmith directly.

"Hey, stranger!" Ann exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "Found your brother yet?"

"I think he's gone home..." Jill replied. Her voice came out sounding strained - like just speaking was a major challenge - which caused everyone at the table to glance up at her.

Gray briefly examined the unusually quiet and withdrawn blonde in concern. She was feverently glancing around, as if she didn't know quite where to look, and her blonde hair hung over her face as if she was trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. "Gray?" a small voice said from beside him. He turned and gave Mary a half-smile.

"Yeah?"

"Where's your hat?"

"My hat? My hat... Goddess, where...?" His eyes narrowed._ Karen. "_I'll be back in a minute." He raced off with a scowl on his face, and Popuri turned to Jill.

"What's wrong with you? Have a fight with Kai?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm and anger apparent in her voice.

"Popuri..." Rick warned. Jill bit her lip hard.

"Look, I'm really sorry, Popuri. I was an idiot." The pink-haired girl had obviously not been expecting a flat-out apology, and she seemed to be quite speechless at Jill's humility - as were Rick and Ann. Mary simply looked like she found the whole situation kind of amusing.

"Oh, there's Jack," Ann chirped in an effort to ease the tension. Five pairs of eyes turned towards the man in the doorway, looking like he'd just run a marathon. Jill stood up quickly and walked over to her brother, frowning at him in curiosity.

"And where have you been?"

"Nowhere," Jack answered immediately.

"Yeah, right. Seriously, where?"

"_Seriously_, nowhere."

"If you're going to be immature..." the blonde mumbled as she turned away, her gaze falling back onto the table that she'd just come from. Gray was making his way back, his hat looking more dented and battered than usual, like there'd been some sort of scuffle over it. The blacksmith settled once more in the seat next to Mary, smiling at her, and actually going so far as to laugh quietly at something she said.

"Just water, Jill?" Jack called, making his way over to Doug at the bar. Jill followed him over, her arms crossed over her chest in an angry manner.

"Are you watching them?" she asked suddenly, a few minutes later. Jack blinked a couple of times, wondering which part of the question he should attempt to interpret first.

"If by 'them' you mean the ridiculously hideous ribbons in Karen's hair, then yes, I confess to being mesmerized by them for quite a while. I mean... what was the girl thinking? Who in their right mind would wear -"

"I meant Gray and Mary, idiot."

"Oh," the farmer realized, glancing at the pair who appeared to be holding a friendly conversation. "What about them?"

"Do they seem a little _too_ friendly to you, or is it just me?" Jill exclaimed. Her brother smiled and patted her on the head.

"It's just you, darling. Maybe you're going crazy. They're just talking."

"I think there's something more."

"Well good on them if there is," Jack laughed. "Those two seem good for one another, don't you think?"

"No I certainly don't!" the blonde challenged, lifting her chin defiantly. "Gray needs someone who'll... care about him, you know?"

"I think Mary's quite capable of caring -"

"Not as much as he deserves -"

"How do you know that without giving her a chance? If you ask me, there's a lot more to her personality than meets the eye."

"She's a nice girl, I'm sure, but... not for Gray... oh, I don't know."

"I think I know what you're getting at..." Jack said slowly. "I think that there are girls who need a guy like Gray... and Mary's not one of them. She's very independent, you know?" He trailed off, frowning. "Anyway. I think we're reading too much into a simple conversation. Why don't we interpret the conversation between Elli and Saibara? That looks like heavy stuff, I'll tell you what -"

"Quit joking around," Jill instructed. "This is serious. They're wrong for each other."

"Who died and made you Cupid?" Jack teased. "Come on, leave them be. Is there another reason you're so uptight about the two of them...?"

"Wha - I - ah - Goddess, what_ever_!" Visibly flustered, and not quite understanding _why _it bothered her so much, Jill stormed off; her brother chuckling to himself as he made his way over to join Popuri, Mary, Gray and Ann.

"Well, we're off," Basil announced loudly. It was about ten in the evening and the crowd had subsided noticeably, with only the younger group really prominent in their presence. "Mary, step along!"

"Dad," she muttered, walking over to her parents and speaking in a low voice, "I was wondering if I might be able to stay a little longer...? You and Mom can go home, of course, but I -"

"Absolutely not!" Anna exclaimed, apparently not noticing that her daughter was trying to keep the conversation quiet. "Mary, dear, I wouldn't dream of letting you walk home unaccompanied this late at night."

"But it's just around the corner, and what do you really think is going to happen to me in a place like Mineral Town?"

"Young lady, I am not going to argue with you about this. I -"

"What if I get somebody to walk home with me? Karen walks in that direction towards the supermarket anyway, she could... um..." the librarian faltered at her mother's raised eyebrows – probably due to the fact that Karen was having significant trouble just sitting upright. "Or... or..."

"I'll take her," two male voices said at the same time. Mary turned in confusion and saw Gray and Jack standing behind her, eying each other with something like suspicion. Jack held up both hands and stepped backwards, as if telling Gray he could do it, but his little sister - watching the proceedings with something like horror on her face - interrupted urgently by calling;

"Jack, you take her - you'll be going home later anyway, but Gray would just have to come back here afterwards. It makes more sense, right?"

A long, awkward silence followed before Gray nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. I don't mind either way."

"See, Mom? Dad?" Mary pleaded. Anna turned to Jack, her lips pursed but her eyes twinkling, like things had turned out exactly to her liking.

"What time would your sister and yourself be planning on going home, Jack?"

"I think that Jill's staying the night here with Ann... is that right?" Jill nodded. "But myself, probably about an hour."

"Excellent! Wonderful!" Basil exclaimed happily. "Well, behave, everyone! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Actually, it's probably a lot safer if you don't do anything that my husband _would_ do," Anna called over her shoulder as she followed Basil outside.

Mary shot Jack a quick appreciative smile before hurrying over to friends on the other side of the room, while Gray shot Jill a questioning look, as she seemed to be having immense trouble with just meeting his eye.

The reason for it was that Jill was, quite plainly, confused. She didn't know what would happen if she made eye contact with the blacksmith, and... she was afraid. Afraid of what she might see in his eyes, but mostly... afraid of what he might see in hers. So she scampered off to the other side of the room without a word to him, launching into Elli and Tim's discussion on the benefits and downfalls of some long, complicated sounding medicine, her mind painfully cluttered and confused the whole time.

**xxx**

"Ready to go, Mary?" Jack called, rubbing his eyes sleepily. The two had lost track of time slightly, and it was about midnight - not the best situation when Jack had to be up at six in the morning.

"Yes, of course," she laughed as she stifled a yawn. "I really don't like staying up this late. Give me early mornings over late nights any day."

"Don't let my sister hear you say that," the farmer warned. "She'd probably make you get your head checked. She believes that sleeping in is an art form in itself." He jogged off to say goodbye to his sister and she pushed him off her, laughing as he planted a big kiss on her cheek. He quickly hugged Ann and sort of... petted the drunken Karen, then he and Mary stepped outside.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed, coming close to swearing as the frigid air outside hit him. "Goddess, it's freezing!" Mary half-smirked at Jack in his short-sleeved shirt, while she was bundled up in a warm sweater and long skirt. "Watch it, you, or I'll carry you back to the inn and leave you there."

"I'm not unable to walk," she retorted sharply, "Even _if_ my parents think that I'm going to get lost or murdered if I walk for five minutes at night. I mean, in Mineral Town of all places! I can't begin to imagine what they'd be like if we lived in the city, where you're from." Jack simply smiled, and Mary glanced sideways at him in curiosity. "What were your parents like? Strict?"

"On Jill," he replied. "Not so much with me. But... I guess we were both allowed to basically do what we wanted. I took advantage of that more than Jill did, but she got in trouble more. It wasn't really fair, you know? You've got no clue what a good kid she was. Not too bright, though." He smiled. "I think it was because I was their only boy, and I didn't have a brother to compete with."

"I didn't know you had another sister..."

"A sister? More like an alien. You'll never meet anybody more perfect, no matter how hard you look. Veronica's her name."

"She sounds nice."

Jack burst into laughter. "So... you're not meant to compare family members, I know, but Jill is about, oh... three... billion... times nicer."

"Okay," Mary smiled, raising an eyebrow at him. "Anyway... here we are. Thanks."

"We are too. That was really fast! So..."

"So... well, um, goodnight."

"Night, Mary." The last thing Jack saw as the door swung closed behind the dark-haired librarian was her mother, beaming and approaching Mary in interest.

"The mother's a worry," he muttered to himself as he headed down the brick road towards the farm.

**xxx**

"Do you girls need help cleaning up?" Gray asked gruffly, sticking his head into the kitchen. Ann shoved a sponge in his hand and pointed to the sink next to Jill in reply. They worked in silence for about ten minutes, Jill coming close to having a heart-attack every time he passed her a plate or piece of cutlery.

"Finished!" the blonde was relieved to announce several minutes later, stepping away from the clean plates lest she somehow make them dirty again.

"Ann, don't lock the doors yet, all right?" Gray begged. "Tim left some damn medical notes here and I've gotta run them up to the clinic. I don't want to spend the night outside when it's this cold."

"I'll remember. Wait, what did you say?" Gray rolled his eyes and headed outside, leaving Ann to turn to Jill with a smile. "Go upstairs and get changed for bed, then I will. Someone needs to wait downstairs, because Gray will absolutely chuck a fit if he thinks I've forgotten about him." Sprinting upstairs, Jill set what must have been a new world record as she threw on a pair of trackpants and a loose t-shirt. Racing downstairs like wolves were after her, Ann nearly fell off her chair in fright as Jill tumbled down the stairs.

"Why the heck did you do that so fast? Why - oh. _Oh._"

"Don't 'oh' me. I just happen to be a fast dresser."

"Don't worry, Jill," Ann said with a wink. "I'll take my time."

Sitting down with a smile on her face to wait for Gray, Jill pondered her behavior that evening. Her mind was so muddled she could barely see straight, and every so often she would shake her head just to see if somehow that would assist in clearing it. And - oh. A knock at the door, followed by the words;

"Ann? Let me in."

With trembling fingers the blonde unlocked the door, physically unable to look up and meet eyes with the blacksmith until he was standing inside. And then she smiled; her blue eyes searching his for any hint of affection...

"Night," he mumbled as he walked straight past her and up the stairs. Jill's hand fell to her side limply, her heart started beating even faster and the clutter in her head finally cleared, leaving her in total disbelief at her own _stupidity_.

Watching him walk by without a second glance, seemingly indifferent or even uncomfortable with her presence - a boy that, not so long ago, had been one of her best friends and _could_ have been much more - it cut her like a knife. A single tear fell onto the wooden floor below her feet as she finally felt for herself a fraction of how much pain she must have caused him.

But the thing that hurt her most? The reason that the single tear on the floor had now been joined by too many to count? The fact that now she knew, she'd been blind enough to convince herself that he still had feelings for her. Now she knew she had truly lost him...

Just when she realized she wanted him.

**xxx**

**That was a fun chapter to write. I got stuck halfway through, but -shrugs- it's done now. Anyhow, the little poem that came into her head during her talk with Kai was 'Eternity' by the great Robbie Williams... and that is all. See you all with chapter 27 in a week!**


	27. Chapter 27

**xxx**

"Jill?" Ann called, smiling to herself as she watched the farmer slumber peacefully on the mattress next to Ann's bed. The waitress dropped to her knees and scrambled over to Jill quietly, brushing her blonde hair away from her ears and smirking evilly as she leaned in close. "WAKE UP, JILL!"

"Aaaaaiiiii!" Jill screamed shrilly, sitting up with a jolt and smacking her head against Ann's with a sickening 'thud' noise. Both girls whimpered, before Jill swatted Ann's upper arm.

"Oww!" Ann pouted, "What did you hit me for?"

"Why'd you wake me up so horribly?"

The red head snorted with laughter. "Oh yeah. Uh, I've been trying to wake you up since about nine this morning..."

"Wha - but... what time is it now?" Jill exploded in panic, grabbing her things frantically and stuffing them in her overnight bag. "I was supposed to be home before eight and Jack was going to teach me how to harvest... oh, he's going to be _mad_. Well? Time?"

Ann visibly winced. "About twelve..."

Jill didn't waste another second, sprinting out of Ann's room, then out of the inn, setting what must have been a new world track record in the turned a corner sharply, only to run into something solid with a graceful and ladylike, "Oof!"

"Sorry, missy," Saibara growled distractedly. He looked silently but deeply worried, a few more lines creasing his forehead than usual.

Jill tilted her head in concern. "Hey... is, uh... everything okay?"

"Ahh... yes... I, erm, had an argument with Gray this morning - he wasn't paying attention to his work and I scolded him, but I think I pushed him too far... I told him to go get me some mystrile from the mines and I haven't seen him since. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No," Jill said with a worried frown, trying to ignore the way her heart sped up at the mention of the blacksmith. "The only people I've talked to today are you and Ann. But... he's probably in his room at the inn."

"I was just going to check there," the elderly man nodded. He fixed her with a steady gaze; almost a glare. "You take care now, young lady."

"I will," she promised, racing off. _Until Jack sees and kills me, _she mentally added.

Her brother was urgently pulling large sheets of plastic over a crop of tomatoes when Jill tiptoed through the gate of the farm. "Come here," he instructed immediately without even turning around. "Hurry up and help me get all of these on, _then _I'll murder you for showing up about five hours late." The blonde scampered over and helped him with the corn, tomatoes and pineapples currently growing. It took the pair about twenty minutes in the sweltering heat to cover every crop and by the time the task was done, they were exhausted.

"Why... why... why?" Jill panted, completely out of breath. "Why... the... plastic... sheets?"

"Because," Jack said, noticeably less tired than his sister. "I just saw on the weather report that a typhoon's going to hit tonight. It's really a huge shame for Gray and Saibara with all the work they put in making the fireworks – tomorrow's meant to be the Fireworks Festival you know, but it'll have to be canceled. Maybe they can reschedule?"

"Oh no," Jill pouted, shaking her head. "That's so unfortunate. The Fireworks Festival is amazing... I really wanted you to see it."

"There's always next year. Right now all I'm really concerned about is how the animals are going to make it through the storm."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Jack. We have like, two chickens and a dog. Molly can come in the house anyway, so it's just a matter of putting extra feed in the chicken coop."

"Uh... yeah." Jack paused while his eyes darted towards the run-down barn. Jill followed his gaze, narrowed her eyes, and walked slowly over in the direction of –

"EEEEK!"

Jack burst into near-hysterical laughter as Jill bolted madly away from the cow and sheep who were looking indignantly at the squealy-screamy-blonde creature that had disturbed their grazing. "Meet cow and sheep," he articulated through his tears of mirth, "I left them nameless so you could... but I guess you... Goddess..."

"That is _not _funny!" Jill screamed, her face flushing bright red in embarrassment. "You could have... could have warned me!"

"You're right, you're right... sorry... it isn't amusing. It's the damn funniest thing I've ever...! Your face was just...!" he burst into a fit of chuckles again, and Jill crossed her arms as she stepped over Jack rolling on the ground, and made her way slowly over to the animals.

"How much did they cost?" she inquired as she found herself locked in a fierce staring match with the sheep.

"About... 12,000g if you include fodder and a milker and whatnot."

Jill's eyes shot upwards and her mouth dropped open at the mention of such a large sum. "Excuse me? For a cow and a sheep? You're joking. That's how much I got this farm for!"

"I'm not joking," Jack sighed as he wiped his eyes. "But they'll make more in profit. Go on, admit you like them. I can tell you want to pet them - and don't forget, you slept in instead of helping me this morning."

"Oh this is _so _not on the same level as that -"

"You get to name them!"

"Fine. The cow is Rosie-Bella-Louise-Samantha-Erin-Becky, and the sheep is Natalie-Alexandria-Summer-Tayla-Katherine-Jasmine," Jill said, quickly changing her mind.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I think _I'll_ name them after all. Anyway, before we went off on a complete tangent I was saying that I'm worried about leaving them alone during a typhoon. It's their second day and I don't want them to think that typhoons are a common occurrence on this farm."

"They're farm animals. Somehow, I don't think they'll really notice or particularly care if you leave them in the barn. I mean, what else are you going to do, bring _them _inside the house as well?" Once again, Jack froze as Jill's eyes widened in realization. "No! No, no, no. Not a chance. Don't look at me like that, this is not up for negotiation! It's ridiculous!"

"But you... I... poor little animals –"

"Jack. No."

The farmer sighed, knowing to quit when his sister's mind was really made up. He looked away, then did a double-take, remembering something. "What happened between you and Kai last night? You'd been upstairs for _ages_ and I was just about ready to come up and shoot him, but you two came downstairs again just in the nick of time, and spent the rest of the night away from each other. Did you break up? He - he didn't try anything funny, did he? You can tell me. I won't say a word. Just creep into his room at night and gouge his eyes out with a sickle."

Jill half-smiled. "No, he was... a perfect gentleman. We decided that it was in everyone's best interest to stop our... 'relationship', if that's what you want to call it."

"Seriously?"

She nodded, staring at the ground as she bit down on her bottom lip. "You – were right. And I'm sorry I've been such a selfish cow lately – I can't believe you didn't murder me after the first day of Summer, to tell you the truth."

"Oh, it crossed my mind," Jack said, a deadpan expression on his face. "Trust me, it did. But... you know, what brought on the sudden change of heart? Because seriously, it's like you had a transplant or something."

The blonde glanced at her brother for a slight second, barely thinking, before her brain shut down and she burst into tears. Jack grabbed both her shoulders anxiously, shaking her worriedly. "Jill, what's wrong? What the heck _happened _to you?"

"Jack," she whispered softly, grabbing his left hand and squeezing it slightly, her gaze on him completely serious. "I've... I've just messed _everything_ up."

"Shh," he begged, cupping her cheek and forcing her to look at him. "It can't be that bad. What've you done?"

She took a few deep, shaky breaths before closing her eyes firmly and replying. "I'm just... being over emotional... you know, late night."

He turned her face towards him more firmly and stared at her in concern. "Jill. Being your brother for the twenty years you've been alive for, I've learned that you have three different kinds of being upset. One; you're over emotional and burst into tears if someone tells you your hair's sitting flat or we're out of milk. Two; you actually are quite upset and cry accordingly to someone you trust. And three; sometimes things can get you so upset that you just break down, but for some Goddess-knows reason, you try and cover up, pretending that everything is okay. Guess which one I'm seeing right now? Now please Jill, tell me what's the matter."

She wrenched herself out of his grip and hurriedly started wiping her tears away with balled up fists. "I _said_ it's nothing."

"Jill," he begged, his voice helpless. His sister glanced at him, feeling a pang of guilt at the worry on his face.

"I just... I've screwed up, and I'm too damn late now."

"Too late for _what_?"

"_Look_," she said impatiently, a few more tears spilling over. "I just – I have feelings for someone, and I just... screwed everything up with him, and I've still got feelings for Tom and all of this is just too damn_ hard_."

"Kai," Jack snarled. "I _knew _you'd fall for him; _knew _the bastard would end up hurting you –"

"It's not Kai," Jill interrupted, looking pale and ill.

Jack's face whitened as the complication of the situation hit him.

"Oh."

**xxx**

It was a somber mood in the farmhouse at ten o'clock that evening. Jill was absent-mindedly lying on her bed, throwing the dog's ball into the air and catching it – while Jack sat on a dining chair with his elbows resting on the table, obviously deep in thought. The typhoon was due to hit in about two hours, and shockingly enough, Jack hadn't managed to talk Jill into letting the new cow and sheep into the house with them.

An argument had been raging up the road from them for a good ten minutes, and while Jack was wildly curious, he didn't want to lead Jill into what could be a potentially dangerous situation. Even though Jill was not blessed with the gift of being amazingly observant, she knew her big brother well enough to guess his conjecture. Particularly loud shouting began from a reasonable amount of male voices and the sibling's minds were made up; Jill raced out the door in only a tiny nightdress, while Jack followed, still in his work clothes.

Thomas, Harris, Zack, Saibara, Duke, Doug, Basil, Mary, Cliff and Rick stood in a circular formation outside the blacksmiths, frustration radiating off every man and the librarian as their shouting grew louder and louder.

"Hey!" Jack yelled, surprising them all into temporary silence. "What's going on here? We can hear shouting from our farm, clear as day!"

"Yeah," Rick jumped in, looking both tired and worried. "Mom can't sleep because she's worried someone's going to end up being killed out here!"

"Well?" Jill added, standing a small distance behind her brother. "Is everything okay?" Eleven pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief due to the idiotic question - and possibly the short nightdress.

"He still hasn't shown up," Saibara shot at her roughly. "It's been over twelve hours." Jill gasped, pressing both hands to her mouth, and Jack raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Who hasn't shown up? I'm feeling extremely out of the loop here."

"Gray," Harris offered. "Nobody's seen him since nine this morning. He was meant to get a certain stone -"

"Mystrile."

"Uh... thank you, Saibara... mystrile... for his grandfather this morning, but he hasn't been sighted since."

"Wha - are you sure?" Jack asked incredulously. "I mean, have you checked everywhere? The inn, the supermarket, the library, the beach, Kai's shop, all the houses..."

"Everywhere," Cliff insisted quietly, entering the conversation. "Doug, Saibara and I even went to the mines, but there's just stairs down to the sixteenth level. So at least we know that he really did go there first. And now..."

"I told them that there's a possibility he could have gotten onto the ferry," Zack informed Jack and Jill seriously. "It left at ten o'clock this morning."

Jill brought a hand to her forehead as a mild dizzy spell hit her. "He wouldn't... Gray wouldn't run away..."

"Of course he'd run away," the elderly blacksmith snapped, glaring at Jill meaningfully. "There's certainly nothing here for him to stay for."

"There's plenty for him to stay for…you're his only family," Jill began with her eyes closed, not catching the significance behind his words. "He has friends here, and he has -"

"People leave their friends and family all the time," Saibara interrupted, obviously not impressed with her argument. However, his face softened slightly at the mention of family.

"Gray isn't that type of person... he – he wouldn't leave... at least, not without saying anything..."

"He would if he thought anyone would try to stop him," Saibara muttered as he held a balled-up fist to his chest.

"No! He wouldn't… he would at least have left a note or... or _something_," Jill said, her voice verging on the brink of hysterics.

"How do you know? It's not like you two are friends or anything, are you?" Saibara growled, losing his temper. "How can you stand there and try to tell _me_, his only relative – his _only_ damn family – that he wouldn't leave? He's been nothing but miserable for nearly three seasons now! And whose fault is that?"

"But I didn't mean… I didn't know…" Jill began, choking on her words, her voice now apparently unable to rise above the volume of a whisper. "There was nothing I could do, when I didn't realize - this isn't _all_ my fault..."

"Right, right, because you weren't the girl who changed his life and then broke his heart, were you?" Saibara exclaimed, his face red with anger and frustration. "No, that must have been some other worthless idiot. He's gone, and you damn well better face up to it. It _is_ your fault!"

At this point Jack, who had been watching the whole argument in stunned disbelief, stepped in and placed a protective arm around Jill. "Listen, don't you freaking dare blame my sister for your –"

"He doesn't love me anymore!" Jill cried suddenly, tears that she refused to let fall shining in her eyes. "I don't... I don't mean a goddamn _thing_ to him. He's... over me." A heavy silence fell, but nobody tried to contradict her. She took in a deep breath. "Look, there's no point in thinking that he's gone to the city and just... giving up on him. He could be hurt, or even..." Unable to bring herself to say it, Jill shook her head. "Point is, there's all sorts of places. Mother's Hill? The forests all around that area? Behind the church?"

"She's right," Basil admitted. "There's a huge area of forest that's easy to get lost or hurt in. I think we should break up into three groups - one group take the north of town, one group take the south of town, and one group take the forest area."

"Right," Harris agreed, obviously thrilled that his job was actually offering something interesting for once. "Doug, Duke and Cliff, take the north. Rick, Zack, Dad and myself will take the south. Basil, Jack and Saibara take the forest area - and you might want to stop by Gotz's and see if he'll help you out too."

"Wait, what about me?" Jill asked curiously.

"And me?" Mary said quietly, looking just as puzzled as Jill. The question made all the men pause in their tracks, and some laugh. The blonde and brunette frowned, and faces fell as the congregation realized that they weren't joking.

"Jill, Mary..." Mayor Thomas began nervously, "You're... girls."

"I've been living here for over a year, Mary's been living here her whole life, and you're only noticing that we're girls now?" Jill said slowly, wondering if perhaps the Mayor had been spending too many late nights drinking at the inn.

"I mean," he coughed, "It's... well, frankly it's too dangerous for you. Maybe you could stay home."

Both mouths dropped open and their faces colored in fury. "But that isn't fair! That's totally discriminatory!" Mary said, stomping a foot for effect.

"You... you sexist pigs!" Jill exploded. "I can't help search for my friend because I'm a _girl_? That's... I can't even... Jack, tell them!"

Jack blinked at his sister sheepishly. "Actually, I... kind of agree. I think it's better if you just go home for now. Mary's welcome to stay with you if you want company." Jill opened her mouth to protest in horror but was cut off abruptly. "If you don't go quietly, I swear I'll carry you there myself and lock you in the bathroom."

Sulking, Jill stormed off in the direction of the farm and Jack shot the men an apologetic glance, beckoning for a murderously angry Mary to follow him, before hurrying after his sister. "Jill..." Jack began as he reached the farmhouse door, "I'm sorry, but -"

"What?" She turned on the spot to face him, biting her nails furiously. "Do you have any damn idea how I felt after Saibara said... _exactly_ what I'd been thinking? That maybe all of this is my fault?"

"Stop that," Jack instructed, smacking her hand away from her mouth. "Come on, you know Saibara was just venting – he doesn't mean any of it; he's just scared that he's going to lose his grandson. Didn't you hear him going on about family? Gray's all he has."

"He won't lose him," Jill mumbled, her hands balled into fists at her sides. "He can't lose him. _I _can't lose him." She gave a muffled sob, walking into the house without putting up any more of a fight.

"Sis, I have to go search," Jack told her gently. "But I promise you, I'll come back every couple of hours and tell you what's going on."

"You won't be out for more than a couple of hours anyway," she said in a shaking voice. "The typhoon's going to be here soon." A sharp knocking on the door signaled that Mary had followed them, and she stormed past Jack as he opened the door for her.

"Mary, don't look at me like that," he pleaded. "I'm just looking out for you girls."

"We're just as capable as any of the men out there," Mary shot back, including Jill in her argument. "In situations like this, men need women there to calm them down and talk them out of making stupid, dangerous decisions. It would be safer for everybody if you let us come with you. Please, Jack!" Both siblings raised their eyebrows, impressed with her logic, but Jack still regretfully shook his head.

"Sorry, Mary. You know your parents would kill me." He sighed, glancing out the window. "You two take care, alright? I know it's really hot at the moment but it's going to get absolutely freezing once the typhoon hits. You'll need to stay warm." He raced outside while Jill crept over to the window and watched him depart, before springing over to the table and grabbing her rucksack. Mary watched her in mild interest, wondering what the hell she was doing.

"Cover for me, alright?" Jill begged, slipping a baggy t-shirt on so her nightdress just looked like a short skirt underneath it.

"Excuse me?" the librarian asked, frowning in confusion as Jill sidled towards the door.

"I'll be literally fifteen minutes," Jill informed her, grabbing a torch and a bottle of water from the table next to the front door. "You work in a library – you know in mysteries, how the detective always goes to the last place the missing person was seen to find clues?"

Mary quickly walked over to the door beside her. "And you think _I'm_ going to stay here while you go out? I'm coming with you."

"You can't," Jill said urgently. "I need you to stay in case Jack comes home."

"_You_ stay and I'll go, then," Mary fought back. "It's your house, shouldn't you be the one to stay here?"

"I'll go mad if I have to stay here just waiting," the blonde pleaded. "Mary, I really care about him."

Running one hand through her dark hair, the librarian shook her head, her eyes closed. "And you think I don't?" she asked in a quiet voice, opening her eyes again to stare at Jill in disbelief. She wasn't about to let the blonde have her way over _that_ logic – and she wouldn't have given in at all, were it not for her inner voice asking her one simple, painful question.

_Who do you think Gray would rather have looking for him?_

"... What do you want me to say if Jack comes home?" Mary asked with a slight waver in her voice, unable to glance up at the blonde's ecstatic expression.

"Tell him that I'm in the bathroom straightening my hair," Jill said quickly. "And if he calls out to me, tell him that I'm angry with him for not letting us search... that I'm not speaking to him. Anyway, I'll be back well before he will."

"It takes... half an hour just to get down to the sixteenth floor in the mine, even with the stairs already located."

"Jack said he won't be back for two hours, Mary." Mary gave a quiet sigh that Jill interpreted as resignation, and the blonde raced out into the darkness without another word.

**xxx**

"Hey, Jill? Mary! Open up!" the dark-haired librarian froze up in terror as Jack's voice sounded urgently from the front door.

"Uh... Jill? Jack's home!" she called out to an imaginary blonde, tiptoeing over to the front door and opening it slightly. "What... what are you doing here?"

"Well, it _is_ my house," Jack laughed, pushing the door open easily despite Mary's futile resistance. "Where's Jill?"

"Why are you home already?" she asked, heart pounding. "It's only been about twenty minutes."

"Mary, where's Jill?"

"In the bathroom," she stuttered. "Straightening her hair."

"At night?" His forehead creased and he took a step towards the bathroom.

"Hey, I asked you a question," Mary reminded him quickly, with no idea how she was going to make it out of this situation. She could only pray that Jill wouldn't come racing through the door before Jack left again.

"Oh, we stopped by Gotz's house," Jack said with a grimace. "You know, he lives in the woods so he has a good sense of the weather. He told us the typhoon was going to hit more than an hour earlier than we'd thought, so we all had to rush home as quickly as possible. I told your dad that you could stay the night here in Jill's room with her."

The color in Mary's cheeks disappeared completely and Jack examined her in great concern. "Goddess, you've gone as white as a ghost. Is everything okay?"

She was close to hyperventilating, stressing out at the thought of Jill caught outside in a typhoon, before Jack said something to make her feel even worse. "Oh right... Gray. Look Mary, we don't know that he's outside - he could be in the cellar of the winery, or an attic somewhere... and if he's on the boat, they're probably out of the typhoon's path."

She'd, miracle of miracles, temporarily forgotten the blacksmith for a few moments – and now she clasped both hands over her mouth, just shaking her head and looking at the floor. Worried, Jack pulled her towards him into a hug but she instantly pushed him away, scared of what he would say to her when she told him the truth. "Jack..."

"Yeah?" he frowned, reaching out to touch her cheek lightly.

"Jill... she isn't in the bathroom."

Jack froze, then laughed. "Really? Where is she? What's she doing, playing hide and seek or something?"

"Uh, not... not exactly," Mary hesitated. Jack's eyes darkened.

"Mary? Is she... even _in_ the house?" The librarian wordlessly shook her head, taking a step back while Jack took a large step forward. "Where is she?"

"She went to look for Gray..." Mary whispered, digging her nails into her palm.

"No..." Jack muttered, fury crossing his face. "The stupid, disobedient _idiot_..." he immediately turned the door handle to head outside, but a ridiculously strong gust of wind slammed the door shut straight away. Jack groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Oh Goddess... she's going to be killed..."

"I'm so sorry," Mary exhaled, her face full of guilt. "I should have stopped her – I should have done _something_, but –"

He held up one hand, rubbing his temple with the other. "Look, it's... not your fault. You couldn't have stopped her – obviously _I _couldn't stop her. I should have just let her come with me, damn it... what are we going to do?"

A branch or stone hit the side of the house with a horribly loud thump, making Mary muffle a scream, before the power flashed out.

"Brilliant," Jack said, the sour expression on his face obvious even through the darkness. "Just brilliant."

**xxx**

Jill glanced around, feverently searching for the stairs that would lead to the sixteenth floor. It had taken her at least thirty minutes to get this far _with _the stairs already discovered by somebody else, and she wasn't sure whether or not she was just being paranoid, but it sounded like the wind was picking up considerably outside. Of course, she couldn't be sure of anything happening _outside_ when she was this far down. Her faint torch beam lit up the last pair of stairs almost immediately, much to her relief – and she hurried down them, eager to find any clues that might point to Gray's whereabouts. Walking away from the stairs, she set her rucksack down and pivoted on her heel, looking for a sign – any sign.

_Nothing_. Absolutely nothing. Her heart was racing in panic - she'd been so sure for some stupid reason; wishful thinking, most likely – that she would find some sort of notion that Gray was all right. That he was safe. That he hadn't left Mineral Town.

Hadn't left her.

With a choked sigh and a helpless tear of disappointment trickling down her face, Jill started back up the stairs – but didn't even reach the top of them before she realized that she'd left her rucksack behind. She stormed back down the rickety stairs and searched for it in exasperation – had she put it to the left, or to the right of the stairs?

Seconds later she located it a few metres away, but her torch had discovered something much, _much_ more interesting.

A pile-up of rocks stood dangerously in one corner, most of them smashed in half or smaller pieces. Moving closer to inspect this new finding, Jill's breath caught in her throat as she noticed a huge gap in the floor. Worried that the heavy beating of her heart in itself would cause some kind of landslide, the blonde dropped to her knees and scrambled over, squeezing between two rocks and glancing through the hole. She whimpered and clapped a hand over her mouth, drawing back.

Gray lay below, his back leaning up against a large boulder, his face pale and his eyes closed. He looked like he'd been badly scratched up, and his working clothes were littered with white debris. Obviously there had been some kind of cave-in... and Gray wasn't moving.

Hardly thinking, Jill threw her torch in her bag and jumped down the fair distance, landing with a soft thud beside the blacksmith. Gray gave a small yell as somebody landed next to him – the sweetest sound Jill had ever heard in her life. She threw her arms around his neck, close to bursting out in tears again.

"I thought I'd lost you," she mumbled, hugging him tight. Gray gave a start of recognition and surprise at her choice of words, bringing one hand up to rest on her blonde hair.

"Jill?"

"Yeah," she said, refusing to let go of him. "Are you okay?"

"What the heck are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you," she whispered. "Everyone is. We thought you'd run away, and – oh Goddess, I'm just happy you're alright." She fumbled with her bag and pulled the torch out; a slight beam of light through the darkness. "Gray... you're badly scratched up. Here, let me – oh my gosh, your leg!" His left leg was trapped beneath a particularly large mound of stone and rubble; almost certainly broken and undoubtedly causing acute agony. Gray shrugged, trying to make light of it.

"I know it looks bad, but it's... it's not, really. Jill – if you can climb back up there and get help, I want you to do it straight away. It's not safe here."

Jill shook her head immediately. "I won't leave you."

"Jill..."

"I'm not going to make that mistake again, okay?" she exclaimed, staring at the ground. "Sorry," she choked eventually, "But I'm not going anywhere. You just... don't know how worried I've been..."

There was a long silence before Gray spoke up desperately. "Listen Jill, please go. If anything happened to you here, I'd –"

"Even if I was willing to go, which I'm definitely not," the blonde interrupted, "I can't. A typhoon's starting up."

"But..." Gray began in horror, "That's going to last the whole night! Why the hell did you come all the way here by yourself?" His words sounded almost brutally sharp, but in actuality, he was plain terrified for the blonde's safety. He'd been smashing a rock when he heard a cracking underneath his feet and without warning, had been caught in the middle of a cave-in. It had happened so suddenly – and he sincerely doubted that they'd both be able to spend the whole night in a place like this without even more serious injury.

"I didn't think I'd find you... I didn't know there'd been a cave-in..."

"And now we're both stuck here," he growled, throwing his head back and staring at the ceiling with exasperation written all over his face. _Nerves_, of all things, were choosing now to make themselves present – and the only way he could possibly ignore them was by being as rough and sullen as possible.

"If it's any consolation," Jill said, her voice shaking, "I... I can't think of anyone that I'd rather be trapped with." The blacksmith immediately glanced away from her. He waited a few moments before replying in a serious, quiet voice:

"I would've thought I'd be the last person."

"Please don't say that," the blonde retorted immediately.

"Why not?"

Jill bit her lip. "Gray..." she whispered, clenching her fists and forcing herself to choke out the words that should have been said long ago. "You've got no idea how confused I've been."

He fixed her with a steady gaze that made her shift uncomfortably. "About...?"

"Us," she said instantly, trying to get the single word out as quickly as she could. "This, Gray. Everything that... ugh." Gray's expression was stunned, a slight frown on his face as Jill rambled. "I mean, me...? I was such an insensitive brat, talking to you the way I did back on Mother's Hill, and... then for awhile I felt bad about the whole thing with Kai but by then you didn't like me anymore and I realized that I couldn't –"

"Didn't _like_ you?" he interrupted, tilting his head incredulously. "Jill..." he trailed off sadly.

"What?" she pressed, trying to disguise the waver in her voice – and failing miserably.

"I... nothing," he exhaled. An awkward silence ensued, before both hurriedly spoke at the same time.

"I –"

"You –"

With a tiny smile, Gray beckoned for Jill to continue.

"I'm just... wondering about the way you said, didn't _like _you," she questioned, a trace of hopeful suspicion in her voice. "What did you -"

"I haven't liked you since your first Autumn here," Gray interrupted quickly. That was a sharp slap in the face. Digging her left nails into her right hand viciously, Jill opened her mouth, then scooted away from him a little.

"Okay. I... I get it." Gray opened his mouth to cut in but Jill continued. "Please don't. I – I get it, but I really don't want to hear it." Looking incredibly puzzled and hurt, Gray shrugged while Jill remained very, very quiet. A long time passed - half an hour at the least - before something important dawned on Jill.

"Gray?"

He shot her a glance out of the corner of his eye. "Mmm?"

"D-didn't you just say that you haven't liked me since Autumn last year?" He nodded darkly, staring determinedly at the ground. "But... um... when you told me you liked me on Mother's Hill? It was the beginning of Winter."

"I didn't say I liked you then," he told her dryly.

Jill raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Uh yes, you _did_. It was all a bit of a blur, but I remember it was starting to snow and your birthday was just a few -"

"I've never told you I liked you."

"Okay, I don't know what you're -"

"I _said _you were my change for the better," he said plainly, shrugging as if he weren't repeating words that had caused so much pain and drama. "And that I loved you. There's a huge difference between like and love."

Jill froze. "Um... yeah. That was it."

Gray smirked bitterly, letting his eyes search the darkness above them. "I was going to propose to you that day, you know."

A few moments of silence followed this remark, then Jill clamored over so that she could see his face clearly.

"Are you - is that... some kind of joke?"

Gray shook his head, holding eye contact as the blonde stared at him. In the next instant, she collapsed into sobs, jamming the palms of her hands to her eyes. "What – Goddess, Jill, don't cry –"

"I am such a damn idiot," she murmured, pressing one balled up hand to her forehead and trying to stifle her sobs.

"You're not," he said, debating whether or not he should reach out to her. "I shouldn't have told you... sorry."

"Oh no," she cut in with a wavery smile. "I'm... happy you did... it means you really, really loved me. B-but I'm... ugh!"

The blacksmith's eyes widened in absolute disbelief and he reached out to grab Jill's wrist. "Jill... do you...? ... Me?" She didn't reply and the tumult in Gray's head grew almost unbearable. "My Goddess... when? When did this...?"

Jill stared at her hands as she replied, teardrops drying on her face. "Gradually, I guess. But I only... understood what I was feeling... recently. It's been hell, Gray –" Her eyes watched him beseechingly, "Even when I didn't understand why, I hated not having you around. I just... I want you in my life, and you've spent so long out of it. I wish I wasn't such an idiot. I wish it didn't have to get this bad before I did something –"

He was shaking his head at her, unable to believe the sudden words. "Then... what was all the messing around with Kai? Why did you..."

"I'm... not sure. I felt so guilty… I mean, I thought that it was because you were my best friend and I'd hurt you… but the feeling wouldn't go away. It just… grew. It wasn't just guilt, it was something else… something - painful." She placed her hand over her heart and grimaced, as if her chest hurt. " I didn't understand why I just kept feeling worse… and when Kai came back, he… well, he told me what I wanted to hear, I guess." Jill brought her hand up to rub her eyes roughly with her fingertips. "I just didn't want to feel that way anymore… and Kai said… we could just have some fun... he promised..."

"Oh yeah? Yeah, I bet _he_ had a whole bunch of fun. Freakin' player..." Gray muttered.

Jill glanced at the ground, then continued. "I felt a little better for a while, but then… I just felt a hundred times worse than before… and then Kai said something to me, and something clicked. But it wasn't... it wasn't until I saw you that I... realized... Damn it, Gray!" She doubled over, wrapping her arms around her legs and choking out occasional sobs. "And when I finally figured out the way I felt, I thought that you didn't... didn't... Goddess, I don't know! I don't know what's wrong with me - I'm just selfish and emotional and clueless and indecisive and undeserving and I'm so, so sorry –_ so _sorry – and I've been a total mess and if you don't want to speak to me again, I –"

"Jill." All he had to say was her name and the would-be farmer abruptly finished her spiel of self-criticism, waiting for him to speak. But he didn't say a word.

He just held out his arms to her.

Jill crawled over and rested her head against his chest, her tears drying on his jacket as he carefully placed an arm around her and held her to him tight, trying to keep her warm. Her whole body was shivering - her legs and arms were bare and the temperature would have been approaching freezing in the mine.

"Thank you," she whispered, meaning so many different things with just two words. Gray drew back for just a few moments so that he could see Jill properly - she was incredibly pale, with visible mascara tear-streaks forming perfect lines. Placing the back of his hand under her chin and stroking her cheek gently with his thumb, Gray tilted her face upwards.

"Wait," she murmured quickly. "What about Mary?"

"What _about _Mary?" Gray asked incredulously.

"You don't... kind of... have... feelings for her?"

"Jill," he exhaled, sounding beyond exasperated. She continued to stare at him and he sighed, cupping her cheek and making her turn towards him. "_No_. We're becoming friends again, if that's what you mean, but... no."

"Oh. Okay... good."

Gray laughed and she smiled shyly, glancing at the ground then immediately back up, her breath catching in her chest as she met the blacksmith's eyes. Both of them knew what was going to happen before it did... but it didn't lessen the impact of the moment when his lips met hers gently.

And suddenly, it didn't matter that Jill was stuck in such a cramped, dusty and dangerous area, or that she was so freezing she wasn't sure how many toes she actually _had _anymore. No, right at that moment, there was only one thing in the whole world that mattered. And he was sitting right next to her.

**xxx**

"She'll be okay. She's tough, right? She can look after herself – oh Goddess, but she can be so helpless... Mary, she'll be okay, won't she?"

"You need to sit down," the librarian instructed, sick of listening to him pace the floor in dim candlelight for the past two hours. "You _are_ going to make yourself sick if you don't relax. It won't help anybody if you wear yourself out with your pacing and stressing."

"How could I possibly not stress?" Jack exploded. "My baby sister's stuck in the middle of this monstrosity of a storm and I can't do a thing about it! She'll be swept away by the wind and end up in freaking Australia or something, and I can't do anything!"

"Australia's good," Mary offered. "Lovely wildlife. Nice beaches. Great shopping." Jack narrowed his eyes and she winced. "But... maybe we can discuss that another time?"

Jack groaned and threw himself down beside her on the couch. "One kind of... positive thing in this whole mess is that Gotz also said the typhoon should be well and truly over at around midday tomorrow... instead of late tomorrow evening. They'd still be able to put on the fireworks if –" He paused and Mary bit her lip.

"It's okay. You can say it. If Gray wasn't missing." She turned her head to make eye-contact with Jack. "You know, Saibara'll probably put them on anyway. Nobody really notices Gray that much." She paused to smile sadly. "We're the same like that, him and I."

"People notice you," Jack insisted. "Jill and I notice you."

She shook her head. "Jill doesn't, not really. She'll smile if she sees me, but I doubt she... you know, spares a thought. It's okay, I don't mind. I'm just... an easy to forget person."

"You are not!"

"I am. It's just one of those things, you know? It's nobody's fault. If I'd... left Mineral Town a few years ago and gone to university in the city; learned how to write properly, maybe people would at least remember my writing." She transported her gaze to the ground, blushing. "But I'd... never be brave enough to take that step."

"You don't need a degree to be a brilliant writer," Jack said adamantly. "I've seen... glimpses of your work, and it looks like it's excellent. You should let me read something sometime."

Mary laughed. "I don't think so. It's mostly just... random drabble."

"Ah, go on. Let me read _something,_" he begged, with what he obviously thought was a charming smile.

"... Maybe."

"Hey, weren't you writing a novel or something when I came into the library a while ago?"

"Um... yes. I am."

"Can I read it?" Jack asked curiously.

"No." Her answer was sharp, and she laughed at the taken-aback expression on his face. "It's horribly rough - I don't think it'll ever see the light of day. I've done about thirty chapters."

"Thirty chapters is an awful waste if you never let anyone else see them. Go on - I'm a good critic. Really. Tell me what it's about, at least!"

Mary looked down at her hands shyly, then back up to Jack. "It's a love story, I suppose... I don't know how to describe it. It's easy to write... it has sad parts, but I try to balance them out."

"I bet it's like... some brilliant masterpiece, and you're never going to let me see it, right?" Jack asked teasingly.

Mary shrugged with a playful smile. "You'll never know."

With nothing more to do or say, Jack leaned back into the couch. Moments passed.

The farmer chuckled suddenly. "Your parents are absolutely going to _kill_ me when they find out that Jill isn't here." Mary had to nod in agreement.

"Yes... I mean... it's not our fault, and it's not like you could send me home when you realized that Jill was gone - but they'll be suspicious. I won't hear the end of it for a _long_ time."

"You?" Jack asked in mock disbelief. "Rose Square will never be the same for me again... every time I walk through, I'll hear my name spat like a filthy word..."

"Excuse me? I have to _live_ with the Gossip Queen!" She scowled at Jack as he started to laugh. "What?"

"Nothing, just... look at us. Little Miss Perfect." They were sitting beside each other, but Jack lounged and slumped back comfortably while Mary sat upright, her back poker-straight and her ankles crossed.

"You're going to have back problems when you get older if you keep that up, you know. Here, try sitting like me for a little while." A small grin on his face, Jack hauled himself up and crossed his own ankles in a 'lady-like' manner, exaggerating her posture. He lasted about ten seconds before slouching back into his prior position.

"Damn, that hurts! How do you _do _that?"

She shrugged again. "Jill has nice posture as well - it could be a feminine phenomenon."

"A... fem-a-what?" Jack stared at her blankly before shaking his head and glancing back at the floor. "...Goddess, I hope she's okay."

"She will be," Mary told him with a sympathetic smile. "I can tell."

"Yeah?" Jack asked in interest. "Then... what do you think will have happened by the time the typhoon's over tomorrow?"

She brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "I think that Gray and Jill are both going to be all right... but you won't be. You might finally make me snap." Jack slid right over to the far end of the couch nervously.

"That scares me because it's exactly what I can see happening."

**xxx**

"Jill?" Gray asked the girl next to him gently.

"Yeah?"

"How long do you think we've been down here? Since you got here, I mean."

Jill tried in vain to squint at the face of her watch in the faint light. "Not a clue. I'd take a wild guess at five to six hours. Here." She offered him the bottle of water that she'd luckily grabbed when leaving the house, but he shook his head in refusal despite the painful dryness in his mouth – she was smaller than him, and needed it more. Besides, who knew how long they could be stuck down here for?

"Not thirsty," he told her. Jill smiled at him fondly, twisting their intertwined hands slightly as she stretched her legs out in front of her, the crevice above them catching her eye.

"Think I'll be able to climb up there when the typhoon's over?" she asked, nodding upwards. Gray followed her gaze and bit his lip, calculating the risks.

"Maybe... I mean, it'd be safer to wait for people to come looking, but is anyone going to know we're here?"

"Mary knows I came here. She'll tell someone - but it was complete chance that I found you, Gray. It's so dark up there that the collapse kind of fades into the blackness, unnoticed. I think I should try get up there now - see if I can do it, yeah?"

"...I don't know..."

"I'll be fine. I can manage. See, I _knew_ gym class in high school wasn't just intended to torture us and mess up girls' hair for the rest of the day!"

Gray smirked as Jill stood, brushing herself off and clamoring up onto a rock and reaching towards the ledge. "Be careful," the blacksmith instructed. _Goddess, she's beautiful, _he thought as Jill turned around to smile at him.

What happened next seemed to be in slow motion.

Jill hoisted herself up onto the next level of the mine successfully, exhaling in relief and turning to jump back down. She faltered in the movement and lost her footing but used a pile of rocks behind her to steady herself. Not a brilliant idea - the pile gave way and crashed down, most of them triggering other rocks and clumps of earth and concrete to fall. Gray threw his arms up to protect his head and coughed loudly as the cave-in littered the area around him with debris, but glanced up just in time to see a rock hit Jill with such force that she fell down, collapsing out of his sight behind a new formation of stones and a cloud of dust.

"JILL?"

_**To be continued...**_

**xxx**


	28. Chapter 28

_**Previously...**_

_Jill hoisted herself up onto the next level of the mine successfully, exhaling in relief and turning to jump back down. She faltered in the movement and lost her footing but used a pile of rocks behind her to steady herself. Not a great idea - the pile gave way and crashed down, most of them triggering other rocks and clumps of earth and concrete to fall. Gray threw his arms up to protect his head and coughed loudly as the cave-in littered the area around him with debris, but glanced up just in time to see a rock hit Jill with such force that she fell down, collapsing out of his sight behind a new formation of stones and a cloud of dust._

_"JILL?"_

**xxx**

Gray's head began to ache as he urgently strained to catch a glimpse of the blonde. "Jill? For heaven's sake, answer me! Please!" When he didn't hear a reply, he started to really panic. He couldn't lose her now... he just couldn't. It wasn't a possibility that she was - dare he even think it – dead... the Harvest Goddess couldn't be cruel enough to snatch Jill away from him _just_ when he finally had her, could she?

"Jill!" he shouted yet again, pounding his fist against the rough ground as if doing so would prompt her to reply.

His mind working quickly, Gray started trying to push the heavy boulder off his leg, but it simply left deep cuts where sharp pieces of rock and ore dug in. Wincing in pain, he gritted his teeth and attempted lifting instead; in normal situations the effort would have been completely in vain but the combination of his desperation, worry and the adrenaline pumping through him had a significant effect, and he actually managed to partially move the load to the side after several taxing minutes. Exhausted and feeling like he was going to throw up, Gray dragged himself a few metres closer to where he'd seen Jill fall, squinting his eyes closed in discomfort as intense pain shot through his broken leg with every centimeter he moved it.

He stopped moving altogether for a few moments when the pain grew to be too much, and in those moments, he prayed. He'd never been one for going to church or prayer but for just a few seconds he begged to the Goddess as hard as he could for Jill to be okay, and for himself; the strength to get to her and be there to comfort and hold her. Feeling more capable after his few mumbled words he continued extremely slowly, choking on unsettled dust and cutting his hands on shattered rock and glass.

He swore quietly to himself; his heart skipping a beat as he finally caught sight of Jill looking incredibly tiny and fragile as she lay unconscious, a trickle of deep red steadily leaking from a cut on her forehead. She looked... the only word that came to mind was 'broken', and Gray bit his lip hard to hold back a few tears of frustration. Why the hell hadn't he stopped her from climbing up? He _knew _it was unstable, he _knew_ it was dangerous, yet he'd done nothing to stop her.

She was so small and just... not strong enough. He managed to get close enough to hesitantly reach out and pull her limp form towards him, and his own heart leaped in indescribable relief as he felt hers beating faintly. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her and supported her head to rest on his shoulder, then gently kissed her blonde hair and rested his head on top of hers.

**xxx**

Jack awoke early on the morning of the Fireworks Festival, yawning, then realizing that not only had he fallen asleep while sitting upright on the couch, but he was in fact _not alone_ either. The sound of quiet breathing reached his ears and he blinked a couple of times, before realizing that a certain dark-haired librarian had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

In any other case he would have woken up whoever it was and laughed it off with her. After all, it was totally innocent - as far as he could recall they'd stayed up late into the night talking and worrying, and eventually they just... fell asleep. But Mary... everything about her seemed to go against convention.

She had been guarding herself since he'd met her. Guarding her heart, was maybe more accurate. And last night... he'd seen her let those walls down just a little, last night – but he wasn't naive enough to assume that their tentative friendship still stood this morning.

Therefore his predicament was, no matter how amusing _he _found their impromptu sleeping arrangements, he sincerely doubted that Mary would agree with his disposition. His mind made up, Jack carefully stood, taking extreme care not to move the librarian any more than absolutely necessary.

Standing in the kitchen, the farmer smirked in amusement once more - thinking of the potential blackmail he'd be able to hold over Mary if he dared - when he suddenly remembered why she was at his house in the first place.

"Mary, wake up!"

"Too early..."

"Mary," Jack said quickly, sprinting back to the couch and shaking the librarian's shoulder hard. "Get up!"

"I... what?" she sat up straight, mortification clear on her face as she became aware of her surroundings. But she immediately replaced the look of horror on her face with one of composure as she smoothed her hair and straightened her skirt before folding her hands in her lap. "Morning."

"I - we need to work out what to do about Jill and Gray," he said, offering her a smile. Mary's eyebrows flew up as she got to her feet.

"We shouldn't waste any time. We should get straight down to the mine, because as far as I know, that's where Jill was going to look - I mean, we should get Harris and Saibara as well - and Tim, in case she needs medical assistance. _Then _we'll worry about looking for Gray, wherever he's gotten to. Saibara will have all the tools needed for the mine - so you go get him, and I'll get Harris and Tim."

"Do you think your parents will let you - ah, never mind..." he interrupted himself nervously at the death-glare on Mary's face.

"Hurry up!" she instructed, already halfway out the door and re-doing her loose braid. With a tired sigh Jack closed the door behind him, half-wanting to take his time getting to the mine - in fear of what he might find when he got there.

**xxx**

"So we need you to come immediately, and if you have torches or anything lying around, it'd probably be a _really _good idea to bring them," Mary told Harris quickly, turning to race out the door before she was stopped by a chubby hand.

"Miss Mary," Mayor Thomas began with a funny half-bow, "Do you need my assistance in any way? Should I perhaps alert the townsfolk?"

"Well, uh... it's probably a good idea to tell their close friends, but I don't think that we should cause a big drama before necessary."

"Right!" Thomas said jovially, waddling out the door. "I'll tell their close friends. I think I'll start with Manna..."

Inwardly groaning, the librarian followed Mayor Thomas out the door, then headed in the opposite direction and ran into the clinic.

"Good morning, Mary," Elli called calmly. "How can I help you?"

"I need to speak with Tim."

"I think you mean _Doctor_ Tim," the nurse reminded in a sing-song voice. Mary narrowed her eyes and Elli blanched, hurrying out of her chair. "I-I'll just get him for you." The dark-haired man came out of his office almost instantly and Mary explained the situation; his eyes widened momentarily in shock but it quickly passed and his normal look soon returned as he shot quick, business-like instructions at the nurse.

Two minutes later Elli and Tim were following Mary down towards the blacksmith's, both carrying large medical packs with them. Up a little bit ahead they could see Jack and Saibara locked in a serious looking conversation.

"So she went looking for him..." the elderly man muttered, rubbing his eyes wearily. "In those mines... I'll give her this, she's either the damn bravest girl I've ever met, or the damn stupidest."

"I think I can safely say that it's a combination of both," Jack said seriously. "Of course, she had a lot of unnecessary guilt resting on her shoulders as well. That might have pushed her to it."

"I know, I know," Saibara snapped, a remorseful tone to his voice. "I shouldn't have blamed her... entirely. And yes, you'll disagree with me because she's your sister, but I still firmly believe that my grandson was on that ferry yesterday morning, and I think that she was a big reason for it. But... I-I mostly blame myself, and the way I treat the boy."

"We should get a move-on," Tim interrupted rather tactlessly. "There's a big possibility that Jill is severely injured if she's been in the mines all night. I think -"

"What are you doing? Are we looking for Gray again?" Cliff called, coming from the direction of Yodel Farm. "Can I help?"

"It's not just Gray that we're looking for now," Jack said sadly. "My sister's missing too. Thank the Goddess we have an idea of where she could be."

"Jill?" Cliff asked incredulously, his voice as quiet as usual. "Wow... what are the odds? Gray and Jill missing within a day of each other. That's... actually pretty weird, isn't it?"

The entire group rolled their eyes, but it was Saibara who growled, "Don't be stupid, boy. It's no coincidence - she went looking for him and ended up getting herself lost."

"Oh," Cliff nodded, blushing furiously. "How long has _she_ been missing for?"

"Since last night," Jack put in.

"But the typhoon was last night." A couple of wordless nods, then a comprehensive look of horror on Cliff's face. "B-but that means that she was... out looking for Gray... during a typhoon?"

"Are you deaf or just thick?" the old blacksmith scolded, "He's said it about three times now! You can help us search or not, but stop wasting our time!"

"O-okay..."

"Right," Mary called. "Can we hurry up?"

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and led the party in the direction of the mines. Puzzled at her determination, Jack jogged to catch up, speaking in a low voice so the rest of the group couldn't hear him.

"Why are _you_ so concerned to find my sister? I always thought... well, that you didn't really like her all that much. I mean -"

"The sooner we find Jill, the sooner we can start looking for Gray again," Mary replied sharply. She bit her lip and rolled her eyes as Jack pouted. "Of course I want to find Jill, too. I... don't exactly get along with her... but I obviously don't want to see her hurt, either."

**xxx**

A tiny voice mumbled something incomprehensible, causing Gray to snap back from his dream-like state with a jolt. "Jill?" he whispered urgently, giving the blonde in his arms a gentle shake. "Did you say something?"

"My head hurts," she replied in a strained voice, half-sitting up of her own accord and holding a shaking hand to her forehead. "Where...? Oh, my voice..." she was speaking barely above the volume of a whisper, most likely due to dust and debris settling in her chest and throat after she fell.

"Thank the Goddess," the blacksmith laughed in indescribable relief, wanting to hug her as hard as he could, but settling for a gentle pat on the back in case of any broken ribs.

"I fell..." Jill remembered, "I was climbing up and I fell... then what happened? Was I uncon - uncon - oh, I can't say it. Was I out of it?"

"For about an hour," he said. "Do you think anything's broken?"

"No... I don't think so. My back hurts, but not badly... and... hey, wait a second – weren't you sitting over there earlier?"

"Yes... why? I came over when you fell."

"B-but Gray, your leg! You could have - ah - hurt it more by dragging yourself over here."

"It's fine," he lied. "No problem, see? I -" he failed to completely stifle a gasp of pain as he demonstrated moving his leg, and Jill raised both eyebrows.

"Gray!" she scolded, wincing as her attempt at raising her voice sent a sharp pain down her throat, "I would have been fine. There was no need -"

"No need?" he scoffed, "No need to help when you're lying unconscious, could have potentially been killed, obviously in -"

"Okay, okay. Thank you."

"...You're welcome."

They soon found themselves in an awkward moment, where each could almost _hear _the other person's brain working in an effort to find something to say. Their thoughts simultaneously turned to the same thing, but it took awhile before one got the confidence to bring it up.

"I don't think we're done talking about... that thing," Jill said quietly. Gray nodded wordlessly, and she took a deep breath before continuing. "Kai was... a _really_ big mistake. And I can't promise that I won't make more mistakes, because frankly, I'm very accident and mistake-prone as you've no doubt noticed, and if you can't put up with that I'll understand, because I'm forever changing my mind about things, but I think that if -" she rambled on, not really knowing what she was saying but trying to fill the silence all the same. "- and I really want you to be able to know that I... well, I'll try my best, because... I want this to work, and -"

"Jill?" Gray interrupted.

"Mhm?"

"You talk _way_ too much, even with a... broken voice box."

"Yeah. I know," she sighed, "It's uncontrollable once I get started. The words just keep coming and coming, then before I know it, I'm -"

"Jill."

"Sorry! I just... ugh. Do you see what I'm trying to get at?"

"...Kind of. I just can't see how you could possibly see Kai's... 'actions' as sincere."

"I didn't," Jill admitted. "I could see that he didn't mean it. I didn't mean it either."

"Then... why the heck did you go through with it?"

"No, I - I didn't mean it to sound like that," she rushed, trying to stop the blacksmith from flying into a temper. "I mean, yes and no - I'm an idiot, alright! I was confused... I _am _confused... oh, not about you," she rushed on as Gray's face fell. "You're... one of the things I'm finally... sure about."

"Oh..." Gray said roughly, before smirking. "Damn. How am I supposed to be annoyed with you after a remark like that?"

Jill gave a tiny smile, then bit her lip and stared determinedly at her hands. She did so for about twenty seconds, then suddenly looked up and blurted out; "What happened between you and Mary?"

"What?"

"Like... were you two ever a couple?"

"...Depends what you'd call a couple."

"Did you tell people she was your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Did you go to the romantic festivals together?"

"Y-yes..."

"Did you kiss her?"

"Jill, I don't see how this -"

"Did you kiss her?"

"Yes."

"Oh," Jill sighed hoarsely. "I'd call that a couple. So what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... you _were_ a couple... you're now _not _a couple... so generally before that can happen, something needs to happen in-between."

"I forgot how funny you were," he said sarcastically. "It's not really something that I want to talk about."

"Did she dump you?"

"No," Gray scoffed.

"Did she cheat on you?"

"No!"

"Did she -"

"Mary didn't do anything wrong. It just... didn't work out, all right?" Jill silently nodded, crossing her arms over her chest and trying her hardest not to pout in disappointment. "Jill..."

"It's okay. I don't expect you to trust me so soon."

"I fell for you," he blurted out awkwardly. After a deep breath, he continued. "That's what happened between Mary and I."

"Oh." The blonde glanced away from him, a wry smile on her face. "That's sweet, but... ah, never mind."

"What?"

"Well... you kind of left her high and dry, didn't you?" Gray blinked at her in shock, and she blushed.

"Ahem..." he coughed. "Uh, yeah, I uh, guess. But, um... yeah."

"No, no, I'm sorry. Goddess, I sound like such a hypocrite. That's wasn't fair, or true."

"Yeah, it was. I, um... I know it was. Believe me or don't, but I felt plenty bad about it... I still do. If I'd been able to control it, I never would have hurt her. Thankfully, I think she's past it now."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

Jill coughed.

"I - wait..." Gray paused, motioning for Jill to stay quiet as he strained to listen to something. "Can you hear voices?" Sure enough, the sound of arguing could be heard above them in broken sentences.

"Sounds like people are fighting... oh, it must be Jack and Mary!" Jill announced, her voice still quiet and strained. "Thank Heavens..."

**xxx**

"Would you - oh, _look_ over there! I can clearly see the stairs, and _I'm _the one wearing the glasses! Jack, just pay attention!" Mary snapped, pointing to a space in the darkness.

"Can you blame me for being a little distracted, Mrs. Heartless? The sixteenth floor is down those stairs, and either I find my little sister... badly injured... or I don't find her at all, which would be even worse. So don't you lecture me -"

"Wah, wah, wah..."

"You are such a -"

"Grow up, children," Saibara snapped. "Jack, quit aggravating her, Mary, quit lecturing him." He paused thoughtfully. "Going by those personality traits, he'll make a good husband and she'll make a good wife," he mumbled to a smirking Tim.

Mary rolled her eyes and moved quickly over to the stairs, pausing at the top of them, then squinting her eyes closed and walking down. When she reached the bottom, she opened her eyes and gasped.

After the second collapse, a much larger amount of floor had fallen through, making the cave-in immediately noticeable. Scattered rocks covered the floor, and the blackness through the gaping hole prevented the librarian from seeing a thing below.

"Mary?" Jack called, his voice worried. "Is everything okay? Is Jill down there?" he bolted down the stairs after her and stopped in shock when he saw the same thing. Then he swore loudly, making Mary cringe.

"You should know better than to curse in the presence of a lady," Saibara scolded as he followed the two down the stairs - but when he caught sight of the collapse, he repeated Jack's profanity about three times louder.

"Gramps?" Gray's voice called hopefully, sounding strained. "Is that you?"

"Gray!" Mary cried, forgetting any sense of propriety in her relief. "Are you okay?"

"Mary?"

"Yes, yes, are you hurt?"

"Gray?" Jack interrupted. "Is my sister there?"

A short pause followed, before Gray replied, "Yeah, she is. Jack?"

"Thank the Goddess," Jack mumbled, leaning on Mary as all the energy suddenly drained from him. "Jill? Talk to me!" At this point, Saibara, Cliff and Tim had managed to set up a moderately safe contraption, and Saibara was climbing down it onto the lower floor.

"She, uh - she can't talk," Gray called back. "She -" the farmer was no longer listening, following Saibara in an absolute rush to get down to his little sister as soon as he possibly could.

"There you are, boy," the old man called roughly as he headed towards Gray. "I'm glad you're okay, but haven't you listened to a thing I've told you about mine safety?" The red-head rolled his eyes at his grandfather, his attention focused on the speed at which Jack was getting to his sister.

"Jill... Jill, thank Heavens... you're conscious... are you okay? Where does it hurt, Sis? Why can't you talk?"

"I'm okay," Jill said hoarsely. "I can talk, but my throat's all blocked, so it hurts."

"Are you sure? Did you fall? Can you -"

"Step back for a moment please, Jack," Tim instructed, appearing behind him unnoticed. "I need to see if your sister and Gray are okay to be moved." He knelt down, blocking the blonde from sight for what was probably ten seconds but felt like hours for the worried brother.

During all this, Mary had also made her way down and was standing quite far away from the crowd, not getting any closer to them as a flash of blue caught her eye. She moved off to the side to retrieve the item that had captured her attention.

Finally, Tim rocked back onto his heels. "I don't think that Jill's condition is _too _bad, but I'll need to have a look at Gray too, before either of them are moved. We don't want greater accidents." Before he'd finished his sentence, Jack had enveloped Jill in a tight hug.

"Are... are you _crying_,Jack?" Jill asked suddenly. Wiping his eyes roughly with one hand and holding Jill with the other, Jack scowled.

"No..."

"You are!" she squealed in delight, throwing her arms around his neck. "Aw, Jacky!"

"Shut up," he instructed. "I am _not_ crying." He turned away before the blonde could embarrass him more, and out of the corner in his eye, noticed Mary. He could plainly see the teardrops streaming down her face as she watched from afar and clutched Gray's blue hat in trembling hands.

Mary caught him staring at her and hurriedly wiped away the tears, begging him through pleading eyes not to draw attention to her.

"Jack," Jill whispered, dragging his attention back, "How are Gray and I going to get back up? I don't think I can walk... and I don't want you to go away again."

"I'll carry you all the way up rather than leave you for a second," he promised solemnly.

"You may actually need to do that," Tim said seriously. "We'll probably need four people to assist Gray in this state - myself, Saibara, Cliff and Mary... which leaves you to carry your sister if you can manage it."

Jack raised an eyebrow at Jill and her tiny frame. "You could have shown a little consideration and lost some of that weight, considering I have to carry you all that way. You must weigh - what, ten pounds?"

"Don't be a sarcastic jerk," Jill pouted. "I - ah! Wow, you're tall!"

"No, you're ridiculously short," Jack pointed out as he lifted the blonde, bridal style. "Goddess, all those stairs... staying down here is starting to look like a really good option."

**xxx**

"There they are!" Popuri announced shrilly, jumping up and down in excitement. The group that had gathered all looked frantically towards the entrance of the mine and erupted in a cheer as sure enough, Jack stepped into the sunlight holding Jill.

"Holy..." he muttered to Jill, "Did the whole town turn up?"

"Looks like it," she laughed. "Oh look, Ann's crying! And Karen and Lillia are, too!"

"Jill!" Rick called, his face ghost white but relieved. He was pushing people out of the way to get to the siblings and when he did reach them, lifted Jill out of Jack's arms. Ann and Karen immediately descended on Jack, enveloping him with hugs, and Anna gave a muffled cry as Mary showed up, helping Gray.

The whole town was in confusion with people hugging and kissing each-other, fussing over Jill, Gray and their 'rescue team'. Most of the women - and several men - were in tears, and the atmosphere was one of town unity and togetherness... until a sharp whistle pierced the air like a knife. Silence ensued and everyone turned towards Ann who was standing on a rock, Tim gazing up at her in total astonishment.

"Guys, Doctor Tim wants to say something. There you go," she offered, stepping down from the rock. Tim did not take her place, but simply said:

"Where are Jill and Gray?"

"Here!" Elli waved, clutching Jill's arm.

"Here," Gray called from his position near Duke and Manna.

"Well, you two need to get to the clinic for treatment right away. No time for all this nonsense just now. Are there any volunteers willing to help these two get there?"

"Are you sure you aren't too cold?" Jack asked his sister for the umpteenth time. After almost all of Mineral Town had accompanied the injured to the clinic, people had gradually gone home until it was only Jack and Mary staying with Jill and Gray. And Jill, although touched, was rapidly losing patience with her brother's constant doting.

"I'm _fine_," she retorted in an irritated - though back to normal volume - voice. "I'm nice and warm."

"You're not _too_ warm though, are you?"

"Jack!"

"How about you, Gray?" Mary asked shyly. "Are you all right? Can I get you anything?"

"I'm okay. Thanks."

"Gray and Jill," the doctor said as he entered the room, engrossed in his notes and nearly knocking Mary over. "Oh, sorry. How are you two feeling?"

"Smothered. Annoyed. Claustrophobic." Jill replied quickly, glaring in her brother's direction.

Jack's face whitened. "Well, why didn't you tell me that?" he replied, turning to Tim. "Is there any medicine you can give her to relieve those symptoms?"

"Get her to slowly sip water and take deep breaths," Mary advised. "By the sounds of it, she could be suffering from post-accident trauma. It's best to avoid drugs and medication if you can help it."

"Well, I can see that I'm not needed here," Tim said, half-joking, half-bitter. He walked out of the room briskly and Jack turned back to Jill.

"Do you need another blanket?"

"Oh dear Goddess," Jill muttered in total exasperation. Gray chuckled in response, but neither Jack nor Mary seemed to hear.

"Hey... the fireworks should be starting in twenty minutes or so," the librarian observed. Jill's eyes lit up as she was struck by sudden inspiration.

"_Go_ to the fireworks," she blurted out.

"No no," Jack refused. "I'm not going to leave you when you need me here -"

"Listen, you'd better get your butt to that festival, _or else_."

"Or else what?" Jack asked in confusion. Jill simply shook her head.

"Trust me, it's better for you if you don't find out."

"W-well, I can't go, anyway!" Jack replied. "I was going to take you as my date, but you had to go get trapped and injured in a mine shaft. So inconvenient."

"Mary, you should go," Gray spoke up. "Maybe Jack will follow your lead."

"I can't," she replied. "I don't have a date either, for the first time in several years." An awkward moment passed in which Jill, Gray and Mary looked nervously at each-other and Jack stared blankly at the three of them.

"Wait a second," Jill observed, a smile stretching over her face as she looked first at Mary, then at Jack, then back to Mary. "I have the best idea!"

"Jill," Gray said in a patronizing voice, "I think we all had the same idea."

"And I think that no-one wants you to even go there," Jack added quickly, Mary nodding her head in adamant agreement.

"Why not?" Jill whined. "It's just a tiny, friendly festival. If you could take your sister, you can take your friend."

"My baby sister and relationship therapist, all wrapped up in one handy, blonde little package."

"Jack, shut up. Just go to the festival. If you two are too stubborn to go as friends, don't. But go anyway."

"I'm not going by myself," Jack whined. Jill sat straight up in her single bed and glared at him.

"That's it. Get out. We have a qualified doctor and nurse here already, we do _not _need a third and fourth. I don't really care if you two go to the fireworks, or the inn, or home, or go jump in the Goddess Waterfall, and I don't care if you go wherever you're going together or separately, but so help me, if you don't stop doting on me, I'm going to have to move out of this hospital bed to make way for you."

"But I -"

"Out."

"Don't we -"

"Out!"

Jack scampered and Mary followed quickly, shooting a long glance at Gray over her shoulder before she left.

"She's not over you," Jill stated almost immediately. Gray sighed.

"I don't know... maybe she's just overly attentive because I'm injured."

"Or, you know, _maybe_ she's in love with you."

"I hope not."

"She's very pretty," the farmer pointed out, "And extremely smart..."

"Are you trying to make me fall for her or something?"

Jill sighed. "No... I just feel guilty."

"_You _have nothing to feel guilty about."

"...I guess..."

They were across the room from each-other, sitting on identical single beds in the tiny room that was used for people needing overnight stays. Gray's leg had been put in plaster and he'd received several stitches, while Jill miraculously seemed quite healthy. Under Tim's orders, she was to stay for just one or two nights in case of any late-appearing symptoms. It looked like Gray would be in the clinic for around a week.

"We were in the clinic together on the evening of the fireworks last year, too," Gray recalled with a smirk.

"Oh, we were too!" Jill laughed. "You, uh... I fell in the water or something, right? And you... you saved me." Her voice had changed - she was speaking more softly and there was something almost like sadness in her tone. "You saved me."

"Well, I mean, anyone could have pulled you out - I wasn't -"

Jill shook her head, her blue eyes searching his. "I don't just mean that one time."

**xxx**

"Jack!" Ann yelled, racing madly across the sandy beach and tackling the farmer to the ground. "How's the hero of the hour?"

"Get off," he laughed, scrambling to his feet and holding out a hand to help her up. She ignored it and blinked up at him, sitting cross-legged on the warm sand. He shrugged and sat back down next to her. "Oh, Mary... take a seat. I'm afraid it's not the most dignified spot on the whole beach, so we can move if you want to -"

"I'd better go home for a few minutes and speak to my parents anyway," she interrupted with a smile. "I might see the two of you later tonight."

"Hold up," Ann teased Jack as the librarian retreated up the stone stairs, "Are you guys here together?"

"Um... together, but not 'together' as such. Hate to deprive you that little piece of gossip with which to torment me."

"Ooh, _torment_," Ann teased. "You're getting smart, Jack. A couple more gold stars and you'll be ready to graduate from kindergarten."

"You're going the right way for a slap -"

"And we both know that you can't get mad enough at me to hit me. And if you did then I'd hit you back, _then _I'd feel bad for making you cry, so it's really a lose-lose situation."

Jack chuckled and glanced along the beach. "So. Plans for tonight?"

"Cliff finally got his act together and asked me," she replied, rolling her eyes, "But I think we'll still be watching in a group... me, Cliff, Karen, Rick, Kai and Popuri... and you if you want. Might as well ask Mary, too."

"Mmhm. What time are they due to begin?"

"Ten minutes or so. Not many people are going to show up this year, because they're doing damage control after the typhoon and the mine collapse. Elli and Tim are obviously taking care of Jill and Gray at the clinic, the oldies like my dad have sorta grown out of it or watch from their homes... so it could potentially be just us eight."

"Does Kai have to sit with us?"

"You are _such_ a baby," Ann giggled as she stood, brushing sand from her shorts and her long legs. "No, you stay sitting. This may well be the only time in my life that I'm taller than you." Of course as soon as she said that, Jack shot to his feet and grinned down at her.

"You were saying?"

"Jack! Ann!" a female voice called, and both people turned to see Karen dancing over to them, dragging Rick behind her. "It's looking like a small festival this year. My parents are having a kind of get-together at the supermarket - there's a really good view of the fireworks from there, too - and everyone from little May to Barley is there. I reckon it'll end up being just the people in their twenties at the beach tonight."

"How's Jill doing?" Rick asked in concern, cutting into Karen's speech. Jack smiled and shrugged.

"She's okay. She's getting impatient over the tiniest things, though - don't cross her anytime soon."

"Kai, get away from my sister!" Rick yelled across the beach suddenly, shooting a withering glare at the traveler who was laughing heartily at something Popuri had said. Kai mouthed and signaled something obscene in reply and the chicken farmer's fists clenched. "She's such an idiot," he told the group that he was standing with quietly. "If she had an ounce of sense in her, she wouldn't even be _talking _to him after the way he's treated her... and treated others." An awkward silence fell over the group, everyone trying their best not to make eye contact with anyone else. As usual, it was Ann who broke the silence.

"Cliff!" she waved, beckoning the brown-haired man over. "Come on, guys, we'll go find a spot to sit, will we?"

"Ooh, I already found a spot," Karen said eagerly. "See right near the umbrella? With the towels? And the wine bottles?"

"I'll be confiscating those," Rick warned. Her eyes narrowed sharply.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would."

"Let's go sit down, shall we?" Ann said, struggling to hold Karen back from pummeling him.

Several minutes later, the fireworks began. Rick and Karen had apparently made up, as his arm was around her. Cliff and Ann were nervously edging closer and closer together - Jack was watching in total amusement, just _waiting _for Cliff to yawn, lift his arms up and drop one over Ann's shoulders - Popuri and Kai were holding hands, although Popuri looked slightly uncomfortable with it, and Jack... Jack was sitting a little away from the couples, glancing towards the stairs and praying that Mary would return soon. Of course, not so that he could be part of a couple - but so that he wouldn't be the only one who _wasn't _part of a couple.

"Jack," Ann whispered, sliding away from Cliff and over to the farmer, "To the left. I don't want to say anything in case I embarrass her." she quickly scooted back over to Cliff and grabbed his hand; his face was shocked for a few moments but it passed and he soon looked rather pleased with himself.

Jack turned his head to where Ann had been talking about and his heart sank as he saw Mary sitting by herself, her knees drawn up to her chin as she watched the fireworks sadly. Trying not to make a disturbance he stood and crept over to her. She didn't notice until he sat down beside her, when she gave a muffled cry and slapped both hands over her mouth.

"Goddess, Jack!" she hissed. "Thank you very much for the warning."

"You look sad."

"... Do I?" Mary asked in an attempt at disinterest. Jack nodded, refusing to break eye-contact with her, and she exhaled, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I'm okay."

"I really hate liars."

"I'm not lying. I _am _okay... or at least, I will be. I know mine isn't the first heart ever broken."

Stunned at the information that secretive Mary had divulged to him so soon, Jack nodded encouragingly. "Gray, right?"

"Of course," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't think it could ever be anyone else."

Now he was seeing an entirely new, vulnerable side to Mary. He had no idea that her feelings for the blacksmith were so strong, and frankly, it scared him a little to realize that his own sister had been the means in taking him away from her.

"I'm... I'm happy for him. I'm being silly. Just, seeing today... how he looks at her... makes it seem... real. But," she continued with a shaky attempt at a laugh, "I'll get over it. I'll be fine."

"You're being incredibly mature about it," the farmer said in admiration. Mary frowned.

"I _am _twenty-one. It's not just some teenage crush that needs to be 'avenged' because it didn't work out - I mean... I can't say I'm not angry. And I can't say I'm not hurt. But I'm an adult. If he can be happy with Jill - and she can appreciate him for how totally amazing he is - then I've no problem with that." She paused. "I'm... um... sort of – testing myself, I guess. I d-don't know how strong... I can be..." she dissolved into silent tears.

"Hey, it's alright," Jack said, placing a comforting hand on her arm. He suppressed the urge to smack himself in the head. What a remark to make - 'it's alright' - when clearly, it wasn't.

"I found his hat in the mines," the librarian sniffed as she began to compose herself, "You saw that, right? But I couldn't bring myself to give it back to him. Not yet, anyway."

"Hey, Jack!" a voice that sounded like Karen's called - although it was hard to be sure in the dark night. He realized slowly that the fireworks were over and stood up, helping Mary to her feet. Then they made their way over to the group.

"Oh, Mary," Karen giggled. "I didn't realize you were here. What were you two doing all that time?"

"Grow up, Karen," Ann instructed sharply, realizing the fragility of the librarian. "Sit down, guys. We're just gonna talk for awhile."

"Can Kai leave?" Rick whined. "There's something I wanna say, and I don't want him near me."

"Bite me, chicken boy," the traveler replied rudely.

"Rick, why don't _you_ leave?" Popuri's voice called in annoyance.

"Because I need to say something."

"Then say it!"

"I can't. Kai's here."

"Fine!" Kai exploded, jumping to his feet. "I'll go into my store until you say whatever it is – but I'm taking Popuri with me."

"OH NO YOU'RE NOT!"

"Then I guess I'll have to stick around."

"You know what, _this _is why I don't like you. Always with the arguing, always with the difficulty..."

"Rick? What did you need to say?" Karen asked sweetly, trying to keep her patience.

"Oh... um... I hate Kai."

"Well you could have said _that _to my face," Kai replied, his white grin visible in the darkness. "I take it as a compliment, considering some of the things you've said in the past."

"It that seriously it?" Karen asked, plainly extremely annoyed. "_That's _what you were going to say?"

"Um... yeah. What were you expecting? Karen?" The brunette was picking herself up from the sand and flouncing away to the other side of the beach angrily, leaving the bespectacled boy blinking in puzzlement as he hurried after her. "Karen, what's wrong?"

"He's in for it now," Popuri giggled. "Good. He needs a good telling-off."

"But what was Karen expecting?" Mary asked in confusion. Popuri shrugged, though no-one could tell in the darkness.

"Who cares? The point is, I hope she hurts him."

"Wonderful example of sibling love there, Popuri," Ann piped up as she clapped her hands together. "Anyway, I think -" but what she thought, no-one ever found out, because she was interrupted by a joyful, Karen-like scream.

"What the -"

"GUYS! GUYS! We're getting MARRIED!"

"You're _WHAT_?" Jack asked, as every single jaw around him dropped in disbelief.

"No time to talk about it now! I need to go tell my parents! I need to go tell EVERYONE!" Still half-screaming in excitement, she bolted off; leaving a very pale and shocked 'fiancé' behind her.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Ann demanded.

"I...I don't exactly know," he whispered. "I walked over, and she was crying... and I said, 'What did you think I was going to say?' and she says... she says, 'I thought you were going to ask me to marry you!' so I nearly have a heart-attack... and I say, 'What do you mean? Do you want us to get _married_?' Because I had no idea... we'd never discussed it or anything... and the next thing I know, she's screaming 'yes' at me and bolting over to you guys."

"Ouch," Kai muttered, his grudge totally replaced with sympathy. "How are you gonna get out of it?"

"Well... I'm not." You could almost hear people blinking in the silence that followed. "Hey, it was going to happen sooner or later. I do like her a lot... love her, I guess. And she's gorgeous -"

"And insane -"

"Don't talk about my future wife like that."

"Whatever," Kai said as he stood up. "This is way too much excitement for me. Night, all."

"Yeah, I'd better get back too," Mary said, quickly following. Ann left shortly after, giggling to herself, and Cliff followed, until it was only Rick, Popuri and Jack left standing on the beach.

"Well, I'd better go check up on Jill," Jack said awkwardly. "Popuri, have a good night. Rick... Rick..." he slapped him on the back sympathetically. "Good luck."

**xxx**


	29. Chapter 29

**xxx**

On the last day of Summer, Jack and Jill were awoken by a loud and clear knocking on the front door. Jack rolled over and examined the watch on his bedside table briefly - it read 6.10, which meant that he should be getting up, and that it would be about two hours until Jill could possibly be coaxed into even moving. Which almost certainly meant that it was up to him to answer the door.

"Just a second!" he yelled, pulling on a shirt and a pair of work pants. He raced over to the front door, shivering slightly with cold as he pulled it open.

"Hey, I - oh, Jack..."

"What do you want, Kai?" the farmer growled.

"Look, all I wanted to say is that I'm leaving at ten o'clock this morning. I wanted to say goodbye to Jill before I left."

"Yeah, well, that's too bad - she'll probably still be asleep by ten, knowing her."

"W-what's going on," Jill muttered, appearing by Jack's side wearing a bathrobe and stifling a yawn, her hair sticking out in all kinds of unnatural directions. "Oh, hey Kai. What's up?"

"You, surprisingly," Jack said in astonishment. "Usually it takes either a nuclear explosion or a cup of freezing water down the neck to get you to move before eight."

"That comment might have gotten a laugh out of me, had you not decided to actually try the second option last Monday," she scolded, glaring pointedly so that her brother hung his head and walked away from the door. "Sorry Kai," she exhaled, "What were you trying to say?"

"Uh - just that, um, it's the last day of Summer... so I'll be leaving on the ferry at about ten."

"Oh..."

"So... I guess I'll see you next year?"

"Listen, I'm going to the clinic to see Gray in about two hours and I'll come straight to the beach to say goodbye, afterwards. Right now... I just need to sleep. Like, a lot."

"All right," Kai said with one of his trademark winks. "See ya then!"

"Yeah, yeah," the blonde yawned as she closed the door behind her. She sleepily raised an eyebrow at the smirk on her brother's face. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just funny to watch you slowly waking up. No, actually, I do have a question."

"Please leave all questions that require thinking until after midday," she instructed as she climbed back into bed. Jack walked over and sat at the end of it.

"What is there between you and Gray?"

"About a mile," she answered in a disinterested tone.

"Don't be an idiot. Are you two dating?"

"... I can't think of a smart-alec reply to that."

"Just answer me!"

"I can't," Jill told him truthfully.

"Why not?"

A long pause followed, before Jill sat up slightly, furrowing her brow. "Well... because I'm not exactly sure. We haven't really discussed it."

"You spent two days alone in the clinic with him, let alone the time you spent together in the mine -"

"This may shock you, but when you're in the middle of a dangerous mine collapse, dating isn't really the first thing on your mind. You're kind of focussed on, you know, not dying."

"Shut up," Jack called as he walked into the kitchen. "I'll let you get some sleep - but I want to know what's going on, and I want to know soon."

**xxx**

"Good morning," a certain blonde chirped, ten times more awake and happier than she'd been two hours previous. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. You're giving me a headache, though," Gray replied with a smirk. Jill shot him an affectionate smile and settled herself in a plastic chair near his hospital bed.

"I can't wait until you get out of here," she said. Gray coughed.

"You're telling me. This place is depressing after awhile. It's so... white."

"..." Jill blinked. "Anyway, I have some real news. Kai's leaving today."

"Damn," the blacksmith frowned. "The best day of the year and I'm spending it in hospital."

"Don't be so mean," Jill laughed. "Kai's not _that _bad."

"Not that bad? If you really want me to refresh your memory -"

"Okay, okay. But that whole incident was my fault too, don't forget."

"I won't."

Sighing and shaking her head in amusement mixed with exasperation, the farmer walked over to the window and peered outside curiously. "Nice view."

"Yup."

Jill suddenly turned around, staring at Gray intently until he started to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"You gonna tell me why you're looking at me like that?"

"Um... I - I was just wondering..." she trailed off quietly.

"You were just wondering...?" he prompted impatiently.

Jill giggled, walking over to sit on the end of the hospital bed, then looked at her hands determinedly. "Okay. This hasn't happened as of yet, by the way. Lets imagine that I was... talking to... say, Manna, okay? And - and we know that anything I tell her is going to be widely circulated, and there won't be anybody that doesn't know by the end of the day, and... well... let's say she was to ask about 'us'. Are we...?"

"Are we what?" Gray asked, a blank look on his face.

"Um... well, you know, uh... are we 'together'? A couple?"

"Oh!" the blacksmith said, catching on. A blush spread across his face as he glanced sideways. "I - I don't know, um, are we?"

"Well... that's kind of why I wanted to ask you what you thought."

"Right, right. Uh... do, uh, you? Want to be...?"

Jill bit her lip and took her time before replying. "Yeah. I do, actually." Gray started to chuckle, and she glanced at him in disappointment and mortification. "You don't have to laugh at me, I just thought -"

"Jill."

"Yeah?"

"Don't jump to conclusions."

"What do you mean? I don't jump to conclusions."

"You think I'm laughing at you -"

"Which you are -"

"- When really, I'm... happy."

The blonde blushed, then paused thoughtfully. "So you mean, you... we're a couple?"

"If you want to be."

Her face broke into a full smile, and she threw her arms around the blacksmith's neck enthusiastically. "Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!"

"Goddess," Gray teased, ruffling her hair. "What've I gotten myself into? I don't think I have the energy to keep up with you, or the patience to _put_ up with you."

"You've managed all right up until now," she said with a casual fling of her hand. Then she became much more serious. "Gray, I... I like you a lot, you know?"

"I'd certainly hope so."

"I mean, you're a great guy. Goddess knows you can do better than me. But I think I'm cursed when it comes to relationships. Knowing me, I'll have screwed this one up before long."

"Well, that's a fabulous attitude to have."

"I know, I know. I'm just warning you that if you want to get out of this while you still can -"

"I have never met anyone more cynical in my whole life," Gray groaned, smacking his head with his hand. "Jill?"

"What?" Jill asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Shut up."

"_Gray_..."

"I _love_ you. Now, think about that before you ask me once more whether I want to get out of it, or something equally stupid."

Jill gave him a silent half-smile, her eyes suspiciously bright as she surveyed him. "But why?"

"I'd classify that as something equally stupid," Gray smirked. Without another word, the blonde leaned over and kissed him. By the time she pulled away, her eyes were glassy with tears. "Jill? What's wrong?"

"I don't deserve you." He started to protest, but she covered his mouth with her hand. "I _don't_. Please don't try to argue. I just... need to understand... how _you_ could fall for someone like me. I need you to explain -" she paused, unable to talk in a steady voice any longer.

He tilted his head and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb as he cupped her face. "I don't know why. I just do."

Jill half-giggled, half-sobbed. She then turned to her left and caught a glimpse of the clock hanging on the wall. "Oh... hey, I'm so sorry, I have to go do something important... but I'll come back in about an hour, unless you're sick of me and don't want me to. Get better!" she kissed him lightly and ran out of the room hurriedly.

Gray smiled sadly to himself. He loved her, he did... but there was something pressing on his mind. It was stupid, he knew, but it was a persistent thought that just would not go away. It was the fact that - though Jill kissed him and smiled at him, and _implied_ it whenever she was around him - it seemed like she just couldn't bring herself to actually say - even once - that she loved him back.

**xxx**

When Jack had entered the inn early that morning, he was expecting to hear the regular sounds of clinking dishes and glasses, Doug chatting to any breakfast-ers, maybe the rustling of papers or ringing of the telephone. One of the _last_ things he'd expected to hear was a loud, out-of-tune whistling noise, followed by a string of curses coming from Ann's room. Ignoring the feeling that approaching the sound could be potentially very harmful to his well-being, curiosity drove him forward until he was knocking timidly on the door.

"Dammit Dad, I _told _you I've got it under control! I - OH FOR GODDESS'S SAKE, YOU STUPID PIECE OF -"

"Can I come in?" Jack called hesitantly, not exactly sure whether he really wanted to go in at all. There was a brief pause, before the red-head yanked the door open so hard, it nearly came off its hinges.

"Hey Jack. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just in the neighbourhood and heard you trying to painfully murder some kind of whistle, so I thought I'd stop by."

"It's not a whistle," Ann groaned as she gestured violently towards her dressing table. "It's a damn -"

"Flute?" Jack asked, picking up the instrument. "Ann, if you don't mind me asking, why the hell do _you_ have a flute? You always struck me as the rebel on the drums or electric guitar."

"I don't want your sarcasm today," she warned. "I have three days to learn my solo piece before the music festival, and I need to practice."

"By the sounds of what I heard, I suppose that for you, bashing the flute senselessly classifies as practice?" Clearly not amused, Ann narrowed her eyes threateningly. Jack sighed. "Hey, hey... why don't you show me this piece you have to learn and tell me about this 'music festival' or whatever?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," she called as she threw a piece of paper at him. "There's the piece... anyway, the girls in the town basically get up and perform a little concert along with a thirty second solo - and I _always _end up leaving it to the last minute and making a complete fool out of myself! It's okay when we're playing in the group because Elli's also playing the flute and Jill's playing the ocarina which sounds just like a flute - and they both sound just like me, so can cover if I make a mistake - but when it comes to playing by myself..." she trailed off and shuddered.

"This looks easy enough," Jack muttered as he rested one hand underneath his chin. "Here, give me the flute."

"You can't play the flute," Ann scoffed disbelievingly.

"I can play most instruments. I majored in music at university."

"Well la-di-da," the waitress said as she threw her hands up in exasperation. "Go on then, try."

With a smirk, Jack lifted the flute up and in the next instant, beautiful music filled the room. He played the piece two times through before Ann snatched the flute and music away from him.

"How was that?" he asked teasingly, sitting back as if he knew damn well that she was impressed. Ann rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. You're a boy who plays the flute. That's _so _not cool."

"I _make_ it cool," Jack retorted with a grin and a flick of his head. Taking pity on the annoyed red-head, he moved over to sit beside her and lifted the music again. "Here, I can teach you if you want."

"I don't need you to teach me," she insisted, lifting the instrument to her lips and succeeding in nearly deafening the both of them with the peculiar noise she made.

"Uncanny. That's _exactly_ what Jill's old cat Mittens would have sounded like if we'd ever put him in a blender," Jack moaned as he touched his ears lightly. Ann hit him and buried her head in her hands, half-laughing and half-crying.

"Okay," she admitted. "Maybe I need a _little _help."

**xxx**

Jill clutched her jacket around her tighter as she stood on the dock. The pre-Autumn chill was beginning to set in, the wind was blowing hard, and she'd much rather be sitting warm at home or at the inn rather than standing on a dock at the beach where the breeze whipped her summer dress up around her ears every two seconds.

She squinted to watch as a figure wearing a purple bandanna stepped out of the Snack Shack with several bags, locking the door behind him and giving a lopsided grin as he approached Jill.

"Thanks for coming to say goodbye," he muttered, looking as if he wanted to hug her but didn't quite dare. "No-one else did."

"What about Popuri?" Jill asked, confused.

"Ah... Rick. He wouldn't let her come down."

"Oh."

"Yeah..." there was an awkward pause for about ten seconds. "Look, Jill -"

The blonde held up one hand. "If you're gonna say what I think you are, don't bother."

"I don't know what you're expecting, but I need to say this. You have to know that I did like you, all right? A lot. I wasn't just messing around with you for the sake of it -"

"Kai -"

"Just let me finish, Jill! I want to know... if you really liked me, too. If you do still."

Her face whitened and she shook her head in disbelief. "Look, can we just let all that stuff go, please?"

"I'm not sure I want to let it go just yet," he said as he stepped closer, his eyes pleading with her. "Admit it, there was _something_ real there."

"Kai, we were idiots!"

"Maybe we weren't. Maybe we were just acting on... I don't know, real feelings."

"Goddess, could you just listen to yourself for a second?"

"Please. Just think, for a few seconds, without getting all scary and defensive. Did you - do you - have feelings for me?"

Jill's heart and head started to race as she stared at the earnest traveller. He was a player, he couldn't be trusted. He wasn't Gray. But... he was certainly charming, and there was something that was damn tempting about the way he'd asked her. Could she possibly...?

"Well?" Kai asked hopefully.

Jill bit her lip hard, before looking him straight in the eye. "I... really, really like Gray. I'm not going to let you - or myself - ruin that again." His face fell in disappointment, and the blonde felt a slight twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry, Kai. It's not going to happen."

A deep wail behind them and a shadow cast over them signified that the ferry was pulling in, and Kai turned to stare at it pull right into port before turning back to Jill sadly.

"Well... I guess this is it," he replied. "You - you know, I'm not coming back next year. I want to settle down somewhere."

Jill's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean - not coming back?"

"Someday," he exhaled as the ship's captain yelled for him to hurry up, "But not next Summer. Not for a few years."

"For Heaven's sake, Kai," she scolded, covering her mouth with one hand and blinking to clear sudden tears from her eyes. "Without... without any warning? Have you even told Popuri?"

"No. Just you. Will you wait a week or so before you tell anyone?"

"Last warning or we're leaving without you!" The elderly captain yelled impatiently. "Hurry up, lovebirds!"

Kai turned back to Jill once more, a little desperately this time. "One kiss. A kiss for our friendship."

The farmer hesitated for a brief second before stepping forward and giving the traveller a quick peck on the lips. "I _will_ miss you. I wish you'd given me a little warning."

He shrugged, picking up his bags and stepping onto the ship, only turning around when the bridge between the pier and the boat was pulled up.

"Goodbye," he called, waving and giving the cocky smile he was famous for. "Next time I see you, I'll be a good boy. I promise!"

"Bye," she choked in reply, laughing and crying at the same time. "Bye..." she watched for twenty minutes as the ship took her friend away, then wiping her eyes once more, she walked towards the stairs.

Her boyfriend was waiting for her.

**xxx**

The morning of the Music Festival dawned, sunny for the first time that Autumn. Jill awoke at 5am as she usually did on festival days, remembering with a start that she had to play a solo piece in the concert that evening.

That was how it came about that, instead of Jack waking up to the incessant beeping of an alarm clock, he awoke to the sound of Jill trying to play a complicated tune on an ocarina that hadn't been used for just under a year.

Trying to cover his ears and get dressed at the same time (a near impossible task for even the most multi-talented) he listened in mild amusement as the sound became less Ann-like and more like a decent tune. Running a hand through his hair he walked into the kitchen to see Jill sitting on a the bench, trying her hardest to work out a note with her eyes squinted shut.

"Why don't you check the music?" Jack asked, confused. Jill glared at him.

"I'm trying to play by ear. We can't all be as talented as you, Beethoven."

"It's meant to be a C sharp," he replied after a moments listening. "You're playing a regular C. If you -"

"Stop! I can do it myself!" the blonde insisted. "I played it just fine last year. Give me twenty minutes and I'll have it perfect."

"If you just let me -"

"Ah!"

"But I taught Ann -"

"Liar," Jill retorted. "Music... isn't one of her strong points. It's like me and singing." She paused to shudder for a second. "It just doesn't happen, and it can't be taught. However, I _can _play the ocarina and I _can _play it by myself. Scram!"

"Fine. The carrots need watering anyway. _They _appreciate me," Jack said sulkily, heading outside and taking care to slam the door behind him. He spent several hours watering, but stopped when he felt someone's presence behind him.

"Hey, Jack," Rick called with a half-smile. "How are you?"

"Hi Rick... Rick! Rick!" Jack replied as he suddenly registered. "My Goddess, I completely forgot about you - and Karen - what's happening? Have you called it off?"

"No, we haven't," he replied steadily. "She really wants to get married - all of a sudden she's decided she's getting too old or something - and I... I don't mind, either."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-two on Fall 15th," Rick said. "She's, um... decided to get married then. On her birthday."

"That's... that's very soon, isn't it? Less than two weeks -"

"She says we'll manage somehow. She thinks it'll be romantic to get married on her birthday and - well, I guess it's one less anniversary for me to remember," he joked weakly, looking awfully tired. "She's getting her dress made in the city - that'll cost a lot - and she wants to live at the Poultry Farm, if we extend the house. She's at Gotz's place now, asking if he'd be able to do it before the 15th."

Was it just him, Jack thought, or was Rick using the word 'she' a ridiculously large amount? By the sounds of it, Rick wasn't being given a say in anything to do with the wedding at all. But, knowing it wasn't his place to intrude, he smiled.

"Wow, congratulations. Jill's inside if you want to - oh gosh - I... don't think Jill even knows. Did I tell her? I must have - but - no - you know what, I don't think she knows you're even getting married, so - well, I guess you've got the pleasure of surprising her. She'll be thrilled."

"Oh," he sighed, looking disappointed. "Thrilled, huh?"

"What are you -" Jack began in confusion, but Rick was already knocking on the front door.

"Come in!" Jill called impatiently, examining the ocarina in frustration. "Why won't it play the damn - hey, Rick! Nice to see you!" she pushed the instrument to the side and jumped down off the bench. "How are you doing? Tea? Coffee? Have a seat."

"Water, thanks," he said nervously as he took a seat at the small dining table. "I have some... uh, good news, I guess."

"Really?" Jill asked, pouring two glasses of icy water. "Hold on just one second - here." She handed him one and sat down opposite him, taking a sip of water. "So. What's your good news, then?"

"I'm getting married in two weeks."

Jill choked and dropped her glass, letting it smash on the ground. Rick scurried around to pick up the broken pieces, but Jill held out a hand, stopping him.

"You're what?" she asked in disbelief. "To who?"

"Uh - K-Karen," he whispered, frowning slightly, "Who else would it be?"

"Um... um, right. When did you propose? Or... when did _she _propose?"

"It's complicated," he stuttered. "I don't know that anyone actually proposed - Karen kind of - implied that she'd like to get married, and... things happened from there."

"This is unbelievable!" Jill exclaimed. "I mean, I'm happy for you if you're happy - but I thought you - you know..."

Rick cleared his throat again. "I'm reasonably happy - I don't think I deserve Karen, and I should be extremely grateful that I have her. I think that it's best for everyone... this way." An awkward pause followed and Rick stood up suddenly. "I should go - Karen wants to talk about sending out invitations. You and Jack will come, won't you?"

"Of - of course, but don't go just yet -"

"I really have to. Bye Jill."

"Alright - bye..." she watched him leave hurriedly, her forehead slightly creased. That was downright _weird_. She hadn't had a clue that Rick and Karen were together again, and she wasn't even sure that Rick was over _her _- well, obviously he must be, if he was willing to marry Karen. But if they were happy, good for them!

Jack's thoughts were similar, but with one crucial difference. He, being naturally more observant to people's emotions than Jill was, could tell that Rick wasn't as happy about getting married as he made out to be. It could be because it was such a big step, or because he didn't love Karen maybe as much as he possibly could - but...

"Jack!" Jill called, her voice sounding irritated. Jack dashed into the house and raised an eyebrow when he took note of Jill playing the ocarina reasonably well.

"What, Jill? I was busy."

"What time is it?"

"The clock is right there," Jack said through gritted teeth.

Jill rolled her eyes. "I _know _that, I just thought it could be fun to inconvenience you. What do you think about Rick and Karen, huh?"

"I wish him luck," Jack sighed. "It's nine o'clock. Why don't you go visit one of the girls and see if they want to practice?"

"Ooh, good idea!" Jill exclaimed. "I'll ask Popuri to come up to the inn with me, so Ann can join in. You come too! Please?"

"I don't think -"

"Pleeeeeeaseeeeee..."

"Jill, I -"

"...?"

"Fine."

Jill kissed her brother on the cheek happily, then grabbed his wrist and pulled him out the door, managing to put on a pair of shoes simultaneously.

"You're going to break my arm!" he yelled, trailing behind her. Jill snorted.

"I should be so lucky."

After a long gossip session, in which Jack had sat there extremely bored and Ann, Popuri and Jill had chatted about the upcoming wedding for hours with their instrument cases not even opened, it suddenly came to their attentions that it was indeed 5.30 and that they had only half an hour before the Music Festival opened.

Jill had dragged Jack home frantically, brutally questioning why on earth he hadn't brought the time to her attention, gotten dressed, fixed her hair and her brother's hair, then bolted straight back out of the house, arriving at the church in record time yet still managing to be late.

So now they were standing in the main area of the church. Jill was stretching her legs and arms for goodness-knows what reason, as if she was going to run a marathon or perform a gymnastics routine. Ann nervously twisted and untwisted her long ponytail, unable to think of anything more productive to do. Elli was in one corner practicing her flute, Mary was at the organ in the other corner, and Popuri and Karen were busy comparing notes on wedding dresses or something of the like.

Jack walked over to Rick and Cliff, smirking at Jill's idiotic stretching and Ann's... Ann-ness.

"Gray couldn't come?" he asked curiously, noticing that Doctor Tim wasn't in the church either.

"Nope," Cliff said, shaking his head sadly. "His leg's causing him a lot of pain - Ann and I went to see him early this morning and he told us to wish all the girls luck and give Jill his love. But, uh," he blushed, "I - I can't do that, um..."

"I doubt he meant it literally," Jack teased. "So, Rick. What did Gotz say?"

"He said he'll have it done by the fifteenth easily," he replied in an almost sulky voice. "Of course, I have to pay for it entirely - and I don't want Mom exposed to all the sawdust and noise, either, and -"

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Carter said in his calm, quiet voice. "These six ladies have been working hard all year practicing this piece they are about to perform to you, I'm sure." At these words Jill coughed quietly and Ann tugged at her collar uncomfortably. "I won't keep you waiting any longer - please turn your entire attention onto the young ladies as they perform for you."

Mary played a soft introduction and all the girls on instruments joined in, as well as Karen beginning to sing in a sweet voice. Jack's jaw nearly hit the ground - it sounded cliched, but she _had_ to have one of the best voices he'd ever heard in his life! He turned to Rick to show his admiration, but the bespectacled young man didn't even appear to be watching his fiancee as he stared blankly towards the front of the room, deep in thought.

The girls played together for a couple of minutes, then Elli began to play by herself, correctly but mechanically as if it was all she could do to not make a mistake. As soon as she stopped it was Jill's turn, but she unfortunately started on a peculiar, squeaky note that caused most of the audience to cover their ears sharply. Jill tried to recover but the harder she tried, the more she stuffed up and the more she collapsed into giggling fits. By the time her solo was meant to finish, the hall was in complete silence except for Jill's giggles, Jack's snickers and Ann's hysterical, helpless laughter.

The red-head was in absolute stitches, rolling around the floor and clutching her sides in agony. She was meant to be playing her solo, hence the silence, but at the moment it was all she could do to keep breathing. Karen and Mary looked annoyed as Popuri succumbed to giggles too, and Elli began shaking with mirth. The congregation were pressing their hands to their mouths, wanting to laugh but trying to be polite.

"La la, la la la..." Karen sang as Mary accompanied her on the organ. Together the two continued almost to the end, before one of Ann's explosive giggles set Karen off.

"You idiot, Ann!" Karen choked through her laughter, hitting the waitress in mixed annoyance and amusement.

Throughout the commotion Mary continued to play as if nothing was happening, a look of total composure on her face as she struck the final chord. The hysterical townsfolk roared and rose to their feet in a standing ovation, clutching each-other as tears of laughter rolled down the faces of most.

"Jolly good show!" Mayor Thomas told Jill, pumping her hand enthusiastically. "I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thoroughly, I say! Well done! Most entertaining..."

"You're an idiot," Jack told his sister as he sidled up to her. "Idiot. If I were any of the other girls, you would be _so _dying right now."

"They loved it," Jill retorted with a big smile. "It pays off to not practice! Everyone enjoyed that much more than the stuffy concert we usually put on."

"I'm gonna kill you!" Ann yelled, pouncing on Jill playfully from behind. "I'd practiced for a whole day, then you go and make me laugh so I can't play at all!"

"ANN!" Karen's voice echoed as the brunette made her way towards Ann, a deep scowl on her face. "You made me laugh! I embarrassed myself!"

"Her fault!" Ann screamed, ducking behind Jill and pointing to her at the same time.

"Technically, you were laughing as well," Mary pointed out quietly. No-one had seen her join the group. "It's not completely Jill's fault. Besides, I found it... sort of funny."

"Hats off to you," Jack told Mary. "For having the self-control to finish the tune while being distracted by these idiots."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Jill protested. "It didn't matter for Mary if she was laughing because you don't play the organ with your mouth. But you just _try_ playing the ocarina or flute without it!"

"You stuffed up first, Jill." Ann teased, Mary joining in. They gently jeered at the blonde for a few minutes, before she snapped her arms across her chest and stormed off in a huff.

It was about five minutes before she returned with little May in tow, their normally innocent faces contorted into identically evil smiles.

"Jack?" May said shyly, tugging on the farmer's sleeve.

"Hi, May! What's up?" Jack asked with a wide grin.

"You're a spunk."

"... I'm a _what_?" he asked in horror as Ann, Jill and Mary started cracking up beside him. "May, do... do you know what that means?"

The little girl shot a glance at Jill, who winked and nodded. "Well... I'm not exactly sure, but I heard Ann and Mary saying that you were one." The blonde doubled over in hysterics and Jack started to chuckle, shooting a smirk at the two girls who had abruptly stopped laughing.

Mary was simply opening and closing her mouth in disbelief, while Ann went bright red in mortification mixed with anger.

"We didn't say that! We never said that!" Mary insisted, stuttering the words out.

"May, sweetheart," Ann said through gritted teeth, "Are you sure it wasn't a _different _Ann and Mary you heard saying that?"

"Quit making excuses, ladies," Jack said with a wink. Ann raised a fist and Mary shot one of the evil glares that she seemed to reserve just for him. He whimpered, then ran to hide behind Jill who was still laughing uncontrollably.

"Priceless, May. That was brilliant!" she complimented the dark-haired little girl, finding it hard to speak through her chuckling. Mary raised both eyebrows and Ann lowered both eyebrows.

"_You _put her up to saying that?" Ann asked in a warning voice. Jill nodded gleefully and the red-head cracked her knuckles. "Right."

"Would you two grow up?" Jack called in amusement as Ann chased Jill frantically around the church. "You're so disrespectful!"

"In a church, of all places," Mary laughed with a sidewards glance at Jack. "How shocking."

"Yeah, I know," Jack said as he stuck his foot out and tripped Jill up deliberately. "It's shocking all right. So immature."

It seemed that just about everything was going right for the siblings at that moment. But both were familiar with the notion of 'calm before the storm', and while their lives seemed to be nearly perfect, they knew it couldn't last. They just didn't expect everything to come crashing down _quite_ so soon.

**xxx**


	30. Chapter 30

**xxx**

"It's freezing," Jill whined as her brother led her down the road from the supermarket. "I don't see why we needed bread so urgently that both of us had to go out early on a yuck day like today."

"It's a nice day," Jack said, pointing to the sky. "Look, the sun's shining."

"Yeah, but it's a cold, really glary kind of sunshine. I hate that."

"Jill," a rough voice called as the siblings made their way back to their farm. They both turned, blinking in the bright sunlight.

"Oh..." Jill said, clearing her throat nervously. "H-hello, Saibara..."

"I just remembered," Jack said slowly, "I need to do stuff. Like cooking. At home. So I should probably go and leave you two to talk." He scampered off, leaving his sister glaring behind him.

Inwardly smacking her head, she slowly approached the elderly blacksmith, a nervous smile on her face. "Hi."

"How are you this morning, miss?"

"Um... good. Good. I've, uh, just been visiting Gray."

Saibara nodded. "I was just with him this morning and he said you'd just left, but were coming back. He's doing better - and it's not just because of the medical things, either. That's, er, why... I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk away."

"Look, it's not easy for a man like me to... well, I apologize. For speaking to you the way I did. At the time, I thought I was right, but after speaking to Gray... well, _you_ were right. The boy isn't the type to just run away - and you knew that better than I did. I hardly know my own grandson." He slid a large hand down his face wearily, eventually closing it into a ball at his chin. "If he _had_ run away, it wouldn't have been your fault - it would have been mine."

"That's not true -"

"Oh yes it is, missy, and you know it. He told me that you two are... erm... together."

"Yeah," Jill admitted quietly, her face going red. "I'm... very happy."

"As am I - as is _he_," Saibara chuckled. "He really loves you - has for awhile - but be patient with him, won't you? He's not exactly the master of showing his feelings - he gets it from me. He's had some tragedy in his life, Jill, I'm not sure if you know -"

"Oh, he told me about the crash," she said, nodding sympathetically. "I'm so sorry - your son."

The old man's face hardened. "My son had what was coming to him," he replied stonily.

Jill's eyebrows raised in shock. How could he _say_ that! "I - ah -"

"My 'son', as people refer to him, inherited my temper, which is bad enough by itself. Mixed with that damn alcohol..." he rubbed his eyes roughly. "I'm not sure that Gray told you this -"

"No, he didn't," Jill replied, her heart pounding.

"- But I think it's important for you to know, if you're going to be involved with my boy. Gray has my temper too, but he manages to keep it under control unless something is absolutely unbearable. His father, though..." an uncharacteristic sadness settled over Saibara's face and he shook his head impatiently. "His father was abusive, Jill. He abused his wife and daughter, too, but Gray received the brunt of it. Some people thought, when they found out, that it was a surprise he'd harm the boy - but it was because Gray reminded him so much of me. My own son hated me with a vengeance."

"I - I -" Jill stuttered in disbelief. Saibara continued through her astonishment.

"Gray's ashamed of it, like somehow it was his fault. He won't tell you - or anyone - himself, so I think that this is the only way you're going to find out." She nodded silently and he continued. "I can't bear to think of Gray being treated like he was, at just six or seven years old - but I didn't want to be soft on him, either. I figured that he needed to move on, and the best way to do that was not to show him sympathy or let him talk about it, but to work him hard and keep him busy."

"Oh."

"Exactly. Stupid thing to do. I didn't know how to bring up children - I mean, look how badly I'd stuffed up with my own. My wife and son are dead, and my grandson..." he paused for a long time. "Gray's the only one I have left. That's why I was so angry with you - if I'd lost him... I couldn't blame myself. It would kill me. But I can't blame anyone else now - my own grandson hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," Jill insisted immediately. "Really, the opposite. Maybe you're too hard on him sometimes, but..."

"You don't tell anyone, you hear?" he said suddenly in a sharp voice. "If Gray knows that I told someone, I'll lose him for good."

"I promise I won't say a word," she muttered. "Goddess, I can't believe -"

"Wait," Saibara interrupted. "You can't make a promise like that lightly."

"I almost always keep my word," Jill replied, slightly offended.

"Make sure you do," the elderly blacksmith warned. "It'll break his heart... and mine, if you don't."

**xxx**

Jack swapped balance from foot to foot outside the library door, debating whether or not he should go in. The librarian was undoubtedly still annoyed and embarrassed by May's comment at the Music Festival, but he actually really did want to borrow a book that outlined the growing patterns of green peppers.

You know what, he could do without the book. He'd lose the whole damn crop of green peppers rather than get Mary riled up.

"If you're going to come in, come in. If not, stop dancing in front of my door. You're scaring away customers," Mary snapped as she shoved the glass door open, very nearly giving Jack a heart-attack. He shook his head, recovering, and quietly crept into the room, not wanting to draw attention to himself as the dark-haired girl slammed a book down onto her desk aggressively, muttering to herself and stamping the inside leaf of several paperbacks so violently that Jack quite feared for his life.

"You're not in a good mood," he observed. He was rewarded with a killer glare that made him flinch.

"I'm - in - a fabulous - mood. Don't - mess - with - me." Mary warned as she gritted her teeth and picked up a pair of scissors. Jack hurriedly retreated to the other side of the room and watched as she started cutting out overdue slips.

"Can I ask what happened?"

"Nope."

"You're just going to bottle your emotions up, and keep bottling, until one day you just... explode in technicolor," Jack told her seriously. She raised an eyebrow, but he simply raised one back. "Pretend I'm a bottle opener."

"Oh, give it a rest. Why don't you ask your _sister_?"

"It's something to do with her, is it? Well, she does a lot of things that could annoy people, especially you. It'd take about a week less if you just told me yourself."

"I went in to visit Gray this morning," she admitted after a long pause. "He's... he's doing well."

"Ah, yes," Jack nodded. "I _totally_ see where your extreme rage is coming from. I get like that too, when my broken-legged friends are starting to feel better."

"Sarcasm will get you nowhere - except kicked out of the library," Mary frowned.

"Wait one second," Jack instructed, spinning and standing with his back to her for a few seconds. "There," he said as he turned around. "I have my serious face on now. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing," she told him with a pout. "That is, nothing that I'm going to tell you."

"Mary!" he exploded so loudly that she stepped back in fright, "You're so change-y!"

"Change-y isn't a word," she pointed out nervously. Jack raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Listen to me. You're... the most contrary... it's like, one minute you're spilling your heart, the next you've thought it over and won't say a word to me. I'm sick of it!" The librarian tried to interrupt angrily, but Jack continued. "I know May was joking, and I know that Jill put her up to it to embarrass you and Ann, if you're still touchy about that. But you're not. I know the kind of things you get upset over, and it wouldn't be something as stupid as that. You are going to sit down in that chair, and you are going to explain to me _exactly_ what's going on. And there will be NO objections, do you hear me?"

"But -"

"Mary!"

"It's not important!"

"If it's upsetting you, it's important to me!"

"Don't lie to me," she spat as she rearranged something on her desk.

"I'm not! It's the truth. Of course it's important!" Jack said in disbelief, grabbing her arm. "Would you at least look at me?"

"Oh for heaven's sake, I'm so _sick _of people acting like they care. Why are you doing it?"

"Sometimes people _do_ care about each-other. Are you saying that you wouldn't care if I was upset?"

"I didn't say that -"

"Well, you certainly did a hell of a good job implying it."

"Listen -"

"Are we friends, Mary?" Jack asked, catching her off guard suddenly.

"I - why are you asking me that?"

"Because it seems like you don't think that we are. I'm just curious, since I've counted you as one of the closest friends I have here."

There was a long pause while the librarian stared at him as if she was just realising that he was there. "Of course you're my friend," she finally stated in a quiet voice.

"Oh, good. Glad to hear it."

"Are you _trying _to start a fight again?"

"Does it matter? If you don't trust me enough to tell me what's got you so upset..." he was deliberately pressing the limit. In the few months that he'd known Mary, he'd learnt that if she was pushed far enough, she'd eventually snap and confess whatever was on her mind. He disliked himself for using psychological tactics, but in the end, it would be worth it if it meant that she could get it off her chest.

"Jack, not everything in my life concerns you!" she screamed at him, flailing her hands in frustration. "I don't need to tell you everything if I don't want to! You just push me, and push me and push me until I end up admitting things to you that..." her voice changed, becoming so soft that he could barely hear it, "Things that I don't even like admitting to myself."

Jack glanced at the ground, an unknown emotion on his face. "Okay. Look, I - I thought it might be good for you if you knew you could talk to me any time."

Mary walked slowly away from him, to the other side of the library. She examined a book for a few moments, before spinning to face Jack again. "I'm sorry."

"...Sorry?" he asked, puzzled. "Why should you be sorry?"

"I - I didn't mean it," she admitted quietly. "I think - I think it _is _good for me to be able to talk to someone... about Gray... ah." She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and undid her long braid with the other, obviously contemplating something. "Did you hear that Gray and Jill are dating?" she asked in a falsely cheerful voice.

"Oh God," Jack muttered, crossing the room over to her. "Mary..."

"It's not _fair_," she choked, burying her face in her hands. "I've loved him for so, so long... and I thought I was okay with _them_, but I'm not... I'm not..."

"Come here," Jack said, taking her arm and pulling her towards him, wrapping his arms around her in a hug as she sobbed. "It's okay. You'll move on, you know."

"I don't _want_ to," she replied instantly. "I don't want to move on, I just want to be with him. I love him, Jack - I always have."

"I know. I know."

"And I like Jill," she continued, "And I'm not just saying it because she's your sister - she's grown on me. But I hate her at the same time, because if it weren't for her, things wouldn't have changed..."

"Yeah..." he muttered, encouraging her to continue.

"Goddess, I can't stand this, Jack! It's like..." she pulled away a little bit. "It's like... I don't even want to get up in the morning, because I'm so scared that I'll see the two of them together... and it's like this terrible pain here," she placed her hand over her heart, "When I do. But when I don't see him at all, it feels even worse, because I so _want _to see him... then there's those... those rare occasions, where he'll smile at me or talk to me - and instead of hurting, I'm on this indescribable high for a few minutes." She stopped thoughtfully and shook her head. "Which just makes the next low even worse than usual."

"Mary..."

"Ever been in love?" she asked curiously, biting her lip. Jack frowned for a few moments, before slowly shaking his head.

"I... I don't think so," he said slowly. "I mean... love's such a tricky concept to define..."

"You obviously haven't, then," she laughed bitterly. "You'd know straight away." She walked over to her desk again. "You've had a girlfriend, haven't you?"

"Oh, I've... had a few," Jack smirked, his eyes fixed on the opposite wall. "But... I can't pick out a particular 'special' one, you know? I liked them all. I had fun. But they all kind of... eh. Love..." he trailed off, lost in thought. "The _idea _of love scares me a little."

"It is scary," the librarian agreed. "Letting one person have so much control over you. I don't think the pain's worth it." She choked up a little with her last words.

"You've got to let it go, Mares," he pleaded. "But you're not going to let it go if you don't at least try."

"Yeah," she sniffed. She shot him a weak smile. "You must be a great brother. Jill's lucky to have you."

"Yes, well," Jack shrugged with a grin. "I know."

"Idiot," Mary giggled, throwing a pen at him. "Go on, get out."

"I'll see you later," he said, walking to the door. "Bye Mary."

"Bye," she called after him. "Jack?"

He stuck his head back around the door. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

**xxx**

"And if you feel at all ill or in pain, get someone to fetch Elli or I immediately," Tim instructed the bored-looking young blacksmith. "You do everything right, and we'll have that cast off in a matter of weeks. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Gray," Jill called, peering into the doctor's office. "Sorry I'm a little late." She leaned over and kissed him, making Tim roll his eyes at the display of affection.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked immediately, sensing that something was troubling the blonde. She froze up and glanced at him in fright.

"N-nothing, why?"

"You seem... I dunno."

"I'm fine. Fine. Fine. I'm fine. Fi -"

"I think we've established that," Tim muttered as he scribbled some notes on a clipboard. Jill shot him a glare, trying her hardest to look anywhere but at Gray; she could feel him watching her in confusion and she really couldn't stand meeting his eyes.

"Jill," Gray said more quietly. Taking the hint, Tim left the room muttering something about medicinal herbs and clock radios. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Noth - um," she faltered as he shot her a disbelieving glance.

"You're a ridiculously bad secret keeper, I'm sorry," he said with a smirk. "Is it Jack?" Jill shook her head and blinked at the ceiling. "Is it me?"

"No!" she insisted hurriedly, her eyes flying from side to side. "No, no, uh... it's... it's my chickens."

Gray sat back in relief, but furrowed his brow all the same. "Your - your chickens?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "Why? What's wrong with them?"

"Um... nothing," she said, "Except that... they... don't have much food left. I should probably... go... get some. Now-ish."

"Oh..." the blacksmith said in disappointment. "Well, I'm going back to the inn as soon as Tim comes back and says it's okay, so if you want me to go halfway there with you..."

"Halfway where?" Jill said, blanking out for a few moments.

"To the Poultry Farm..." Gray said slowly. "I'm assuming that's where you'd be getting the chicken feed..."

"What chicken feed?"

"Jill, what's going on?" he asked, a tinge of impatience to his voice. "You can't even look at me!"

"I'm sorry," she exhaled. "I just... have a lot on my mind."

"You miss your family?" he said spontaneously. Jill glanced at him sideways, then smiled.

"Yeah, that's it... I'm just, um, wondering how they are. I mean, not so much my family, but my old friends and stuff..."

"Right," Gray nodded in understanding. "It must be tough, still."

"Oh, it is," she lied uncomfortably. "Hey, lets not talk about me anymore. How about you? How's, um... your leg?"

"Getting better," he joked as he raised an eyebrow, "That's kind of why I'm leaving the hospital..."

"Right... right," she said, walking over to the door and making urgent eye contact with Doctor Tim. He hurried over, handing Gray a small bottle and a sheet of paper.

"Keep this - and take these, but only when you really need them. I think that's all."

"Great," Jill jumped in with a big smile. "Okay, can we go?"

"_You_ can go anytime you feel like it," Tim said, "You're not a patient." She glared at him, plainly not amused, and he swallowed hard. "And, uh, Gray can go too."

"Thank you," she muttered, shifting from foot to foot impatiently as Gray steadied himself on crutches.

She walked quickly in silence beside the blacksmith, who was having trouble balancing on the road towards the inn.

"Are you sure you're okay, Jill?" Gray asked, his eyes fixed on the ground. "It's sort of - never mind."

"No, what?" she asked, stopping on the spot.

"It's sort of like... ever since we... were, you know, in the mines... you've been holding back a bit. Do you wanna talk about something?"

"Goddess," Jill muttered, pointing to a park bench on the side of the path. "Come on, sit down. Let's talk." She waited until Gray was sitting, staring at her expectantly. "I guess... I guess I haven't been in a relationship since Tom, you know? Well, I haven't been in a relationship _other _than Tom... ever. I mean... it's kind of like you and Mary, right?"

"How so?" Gray asked, not quite following.

Jill sighed. "You know... you two were like a 'couple' for a long, long time... don't you find it a little weird to have that couple thing with someone else?"

"Not really..." he replied, a faint blush settling over his cheeks. "I mean... I love you a lot more than I loved Mary. You -" he faltered as Jill's face went white. "You... don't feel the same, though, do you?"

"Gray," she sighed. "I - you know how much I like you."

"No, I don't," he pointed out. "Jill."

"Yes?"

"How much more did Tom mean to you?"

"That's not fair, Gray, it's not something I can -"

"I'm not going to get mad," he rushed on. "I'd just... like to know."

"Oh, I don't... look, Tom and I... it's a different thing. You don't realise how serious that relationship _was_," she said, her voice defensive. "I was ready to marry him - I was ready to have kids, and I didn't realise that there was anyone else in the whole world that could come close!"

A long pause followed before Gray nodded, bowing his head. "Okay. Fair enough."

"Until I met you," she said softly, placing a small hand over his larger one. "Give me time. I know I've had a lot already, but... I like you _so_ much. I swear, it'll be worth it."

"I love you, Jill," he murmured quietly. She half smiled, biting her lip at the same time as she got to her feet.

"I know," she whispered. "Come on. Ann's probably been cleaning all day for your return."

**xxx**

"_You_," Jack said menacingly, pointing at his sister as she walked through the front door. She blanched.

"Uh-huh?" she asked weakly. "What've I done?"

"Oh, nothing," he said brightly, bouncing over and hugging her. "Wait. You're... not... smiling. How is that possible, when you walk through the front door and I'm the first thing you see? You should be... positively beaming!"

"Wow," Jill said sarcastically, pushing past him. "It _was_ possible. You got even _more _annoying. Ann owes me 50G."

"Okay, Moody McGrumpy. What's wrong?"

"Goddess, not you too!" she half-yelled as she stormed across the room and into the kitchen, causing a huge amount of noise as she pulled pots and pans out of the cupboards. Jack blinked a few times in confusion.

"Okay... 'what's wrong'... violent rage... ah, I see how we got there." The blonde wordlessly showed him a fist, but he was fairly unaffected, sauntering over and grinning. "Jill?"

"What?"

"Whatcha doing?"

"Ugh!" she exhaled, shooting him a glare that could have killed a small animal. "Stop it!"

"I'm gonna cheer you up. You know I am."

"Doubt it," she said through gritted teeth.

"How was your day?"

"You know that thing where we generally like each-other?" she asked in a slightly chirpier voice. Jack nodded and her face snapped back into a glare. "How about we _don't_,anymore."

"You're so angry," Jack said sadly. "You're bringing my mood down."

"Sorry," she muttered, pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead. "Okay, I'll try be happier. What do you want to talk about?"

"I had a question, actually," Jack said with a twinkle in his eye. "About Gray."

"I'm not answering it," Jill said immediately, pressing her hands to her ears.

"It's not an embarrassing question. It's important."

"Fine," she exhaled. "What?"

With a cheeky smirk, Jack leaned on the bench top. "Is he a good kisser?"

"Oh. Oh. I am _so _not having this conversation with you," Jill replied in disgust.

"Go on, I'm your big brother! You should be able to share things like this with me!"

"Go away..." the farmer groaned. "I'm NOT discussing it."

"That means he's bad, right?" Jack asked with a grin. "You're trying to save him the embarrassment?"

"It doesn't mean that at all!"

"So he's good, then?"

"Do you not _see _how plain wrong this conversation is?"

"That doesn't answer my question at all."

Jill let out a long, long sigh of exasperation. "Yes. He's a very good kisser. Happy?"

"Is he a good -"

"Don't!" Jill warned, pointing at him threateningly. Jack smirked teasingly.

"I was _going _to say 'listener.' I find that important in a partner, thank you very much. So, he's a good kisser... I wonder if he thinks the same about you."

"Of course he does!" Jill said in outrage, standing up like a shot. Jack shrugged.

"Well, you never know. Have you asked him?"

"I - no, but -"

"Can _I_ ask him?"

"If you even think about it -" Jill proclaimed through gritted teeth, grabbing her brother's arm and bending it painfully.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Jack whimpered, pulling his arm away indignantly. "Someone's defensive. Is he a better kisser than Tom was?"

"JACK EVANS!"

"JILL EVANS!"

"I _said_ he's very good," she yelled in exasperation. "Now shut up!"

"I wonder how that's possible," Jack muttered as he stroked an imaginary beard. "I mean, you wouldn't imagine that there'd be that many ways to gain experience in Mineral Town."

Flushing crimson red, Jill began to pout as she resumed her seat. "Well... I mean, I daresay that Mary's very good as well if you really want to think about it. Which I don't."

"Oh?" Jack said in mild interest, not catching on. "How do you figure that one?" Jill raised an eyebrow, and his face slowly fell in comprehension and horror as he stood up abruptly. "I can't believe you. Having this conversation with your brother. It's wrong, wrong, I tell you! I'll have no part in it."

"Where are you going?" Jill called, an amused smile on her face. Jack glowered back at her.

"The inn."

"Why?" she asked quickly, springing to her feet.

"You know," Jack said, waving his hand dismissively. "Um... stuff..."

"If you say one word to Gray -"

"Please," he scoffed. "If I were going to talk to him about it, I'd use a lot more than just one word. Ah!" He bolted off, as his sister chased after him out the door.

**xxx**

Upon stepping into the inn, the first thing Jack noticed was the total silence. The second thing was a certain red haired waitress sitting at one of the tables, her head in one hand and a dish cloth in the other.

"You look like Cinderella before the fairy godmother," Jack said, his face deadly serious. Ann looked up with a jolt and gave a small smile.

"Hey, you."

"Where is everyone?" he asked, gesturing to the empty room. Ann paused, her chin resting on her fist.

"Well... Dad's at the supermarket, Cliff's at the church... Gray's upstairs, and we're customer-less right now."

"What about me?"

"You're not a proper customer if you're only here to visit me," Ann winked. Jack rolled his eyes.

"You look, um... pensive."

"Pensive. That's a good word to describe it," she said thoughtfully.

"Want to explain?" Jack asked, sliding into the seat opposite and signifying that she really didn't have much choice in the matter. Ann sighed, frowning at her hands.

"It's not really... okay," she exhaled, "Here goes. Just remember when you're bored out of your mind that you asked me to tell you."

"If it's _that _boring, don't bother," he begged, earning himself a glare.

"So... it's sort of Cliff," she began nervously. "It's not 'fun'. We're not having fun. It's... I don't think it's getting too serious, because I can deal with that - it's like, I don't enjoy spending time with him anymore."

"So break up with him," Jack shrugged simply. Ann shot him a sarcastic glance. "No, I'm completely serious. If you're not happy with him, it's the best thing for you to do."

"I can't just b-break up with him," Ann stuttered. "It's not as simple as that. My dad -"

"Doug?" Jack asked, frowning. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"He - you know Cliff's the most serious boyfriend I've had... ever. And Dad - he kind of expects that I'll, um... mahisoom."

"You'll... what?"

"Marry... him... soon," Ann said in slow motion. Jack's jaw dropped, but she continued. "I think that Rick and Karen threw him into the spirit of things. You have no idea what it's like every time I _try _to protest." She cleared her throat and put on a deep voice. "Just one, Ann. Just one grandchild before I die. You're my only child, and you're the only chance I have. Cliff is a good man - be a good girl, all right?"

Jack chuckled, then trailed off at the stony look on Ann's face. "Sorry... you just - you just do your dad's voice really well..."

"I'm so confused," she whined, dropping her head into her hands again. "I feel like I should be a good daughter, you know? But it's not like I have to worry about Cliff proposing anytime soon, anyway... if he takes half the time it took to ask me out in the first place..."

"Ann?" Jack asked, grasping one of her hands. "Listen to me, all right?" The waitress nodded, her eyes bright with tears. "You're a great girl. You're a _great _girl. You don't need to take the first offer that comes along, you know?"

"I - I don't?" she asked slowly, a tinge of hope spreading across her face.

"No!" the farmer replied immediately, shaking his head.

"B-but it isn't that I don't like Cliff," she jumped in. "I do like him, it's just that - lately I've been losing patience with him, you know? Like he'll say something idiotic or wrong and instead of laughing, I get all touchy and annoyed with him."

"So maybe you're falling out of love with him," Jack shrugged. He got a funny look from the red-head.

"Who said anything about 'love'? I don't love him."

"O - oh," he stuttered, blinking a few times. "Well, in that case -"

"It's all very well for you to say I don't have to take the first offer," Ann interrupted, "But what if that's all? What if I never get another offer and end up alone and child-less?"

"That's not the worst thing that could happen," Jack said. Faltering at the glare he received, he sighed. "Look - as I said, you _don't _need to take your first offer. You don't even need to take the second, for that matter. Although... by the third, you might be pushing it."

"Oh, shut up," she giggled, hitting him with the cloth in her hand. The door swung open and Doug walked through, closely followed by Jill.

"Ann! Shopping to put away!" the tall man called, gesturing to the bags in his arms. Jill stormed over to her brother and pulled him down into a seat as Ann scampered off.

"I've just remembered something," Jill said breathlessly, "Daddy's company."

"Daddy's - oh," Jack replied quickly. "Damn it, me too. Oh, that makes things difficult."

"What things?" the blonde asked curiously, edging a little closer. Her brother shook his head.

"Nothing. I - Jill, I don't think I can take it."

"Good!" she announced happily, before pausing. "Why not?"

"Some people here have... grown on me, you know? I don't want to leave..." he muttered, staring at his hands. Jill nodded.

"Uh-huh. That's good, because I didn't want you to leave anyway, but... oh Jack, it's so much money. Heaven knows who it'll go to if you don't take it."

"I know. Look, I - I have until Spring 14th to get back to them. I'd _like _to take the company, and I'm going to leave making a decision for awhile... but if it comes down to it, I'm not sacrificing my happiness for the money."

**xxx**


	31. Chapter 31

**xxx**

Jill silently pushed open the front door at four o'clock in the morning on the ninth of Fall. She crept out, pulling her jacket tighter around her, her breath coming out in little puffs of frost in the cold air.

Side-stepping over to the fully grown yams and carrots, a heavy basket swung on her arm as she began stacking the produce into it. She froze immediately as she heard the cracking of a twig behind her, and turned to see her dog Molly staring up at her in confusion.

"Shh, girl," she warned gently as she kneeled down. "I _know_ I don't usually do this. Shh." She turned back, tugging at an especially well-rooted carrot, shooting away quickly and landing firmly on her backside as it gave way.

"Oww..."

Two hours later, she crept back inside the house, depositing the crops in the shipping bin on her way. Once inside she bustled around the kitchen, pulling out a wide variety of utensils and ingredients, until, at seven o'clock on the dot, she loaded everything onto a tray and carried it into Jack's room.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," she sang loudly and off-key, setting the tray on his bedside table and shaking him with one hand. "Wake up, Jack! How does it feel being twenty-four? Ah!" she reached out quickly as the tray toppled from the table, but her efforts were in vain as orange juice, cereal, toast and omelette decorated the floorboards.

"Goddess, Jill," he murmered sleepily, hoisting himself up into a sitting position and rubbing his eyes. "You remembered... thanks..." while his eyes adjusted to the light, he frowned. "What time is it?"

"Seven," Jill chirped.

"Seven?" he repeated, glancing next to him. "Why didn't my alarm clock - where _is _my alarm clock?"

"I broke it."

"... you _what_?"

"I was cleaning, and I saw it and thought that you shouldn't have to wake up early on your birthday, so I took it away for a little while, but I dropped it. Please don't be mad!"

Jack clenched his fists, trying his best to be patient with the girl. "It's okay."

"Ooh, wait!" she called, rushing out of the room, then back in with two wrapped packages. "Open that one first. It's from Gray." Jack opened the first package and grinned when he saw a good pair of sharp clippers.

"Excellent - he must've heard me saying that I needed a pair. I'll have to thank him; they cost a bundle." His eyes narrowed in brief comprehension. "Jill... how did he know it was my birthday?"

"Uh... open that other one," she changed the subject. "I did it myself."

"The present or the wrapping?" Jack asked sceptically, pulling at the ribbon carefully.

"Both," Jill said, shifting from foot to foot. "Oh, would you just rip the paper?"

"No... I might be able to save it for something. Wow, Jill!" He lifted a surprisingly good pair of knitted winter gloves. "That's amazing - I always saw you as... you know..."

"Creatively and artistically 'challenged'?" she supplied cheerfully. "Ellen's been teaching me - but I did those all by myself."

His brow furrowed, Jack examined the gloves, looking confused for a few moments before his face transformed into a knowing smirk. "Oh, I can tell."

"How? What's wrong?" Jill asked quickly. Jack held up one glove, pressing his lips together to keep from laughing.

"Y-you, uh, forgot something."

"WHAT?" his sister asked impatiently, beginning to panic. "What did I - oh no. Goddess!"

Both gloves were missing the thumb, and when Jack tried one on, his thumb and first finger smooshed into the same compartment together. Jill was pouting very prominently. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

"It's okay, I know what we'll do. How about we use Gray's clippers and cut off both of my thumbs? Then your gloves will be a perfect fit!" Jack offered, before cracking up in helpless laughter. Despite herself, Jill joined in until they were both clutching their sides in hysterics. "Jill," the farmer said after a few minutes, "I'm really sorry - I appreciate all this so much - but I need to go harvest some of the crops before I can do anything."

"Oh, I already did," Jill said happily, making Jack's face fall rapidly.

"What did you do?" he asked, springing out of bed and rushing out of his room, over to the front door.

"I harvested," the blonde said in a small voice, examining her brother's face as he took in the upturned soil, untidy stacking in the shipment bin and messed up field. "Was that wrong?"

Pausing for a few moments, Jack smiled and shook his head, pulling his sister into a hug. "Thank you. You did well." He felt Jill physically slump in relief as she pulled away and blinked at him.

"So - do you want a party?" she asked, dancing on the spot. Jack shot her a glare.

"No. You know I hate all that fuss. Look, don't tell anyone it's my birthday, all right? Please?"

"I thought you'd moved past all that," she groaned. "You have issues. Birthday issues."

"Just don't tell anyone, and I'll be a happy boy," he finished with a glare. "I hate the way people put themselves out to try throw a party or buy presents or whatever. I don't need it."

"But -"

"Jill."

"_Fine_," she exhaled, crossing her arms. "Come on. We'll go to the inn for breakfast instead."

**xxx**

"HAP -" Ann yelled as the siblings walked into the room, shutting up abruptly as Jill made a hurried 'stop it' motion. The blonde dashed over and whispered in the red-head's ear for a few moments, then scampered back over to her brother, who was watching the entire scene with a look of utter confusion on his face.

"What, Ann?" he asked with a slight frown. The waitress gulped.

"HAP-hazard," she finished lamely, glancing shiftily to the side. "Haphazard, is, I think, kids these days. I mean - Stu - is very haphazard."

Jack blinked and Jill glared, before Jack slid into a chair. "Anyway..."

"So," Ann coughed as she walked over to the table, notepad in hand. "Wow, Jack - you look really different all of a sudden."

"I do?" he asked in confusion. "How?"

"Uh... I'm not sure," she said, winking at Jill. "Like... you look older, or something." Jill smacked her palm to her head as Jack shot her an annoyed glance.

"That," Jill began, glancing at Ann, "Was _indescribably_ smooth. How could anyone possibly guess what you were hinting at?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and the waitress blushed as Jack started to scold his sister.

"Why? Why?" he asked. "I asked you not to. Why would you tell her? Who else have you told?"

"No-one else, I swear!" Jill retorted.

"Hey there, Jack," Cliff called as he walked down the stairs. "Happy birthday." He continued on his way, and the farmer gritted his teeth as he turned to Jill menacingly.

"I didn't! I didn't!" she insisted, pointing at Ann. "It was her! She told everyone!" Jack switched his glare to Ann, but she was entirely unaffected as she flicked a dish cloth at him.

"So, Jack," she said slowly. "Do you want us to throw you a surprise party, or do you want to have a say in the planning?"

"No party," he warned, pointing one finger at the waitress. "Don't even think about it. I don't _want_ one."

"Why the heck not?" Ann asked, disappointed. "That's such a let-down. Now I have to wait... three days before Jill's birthday on the twelfth. Ugh."

"Ooh, I'm having a party?" Jill asked happily. She faltered at the look on Ann's face. "Oh, I see. That wasn't the point." Ann was still glaring at her, so she swallowed hard and pointed to Jack in an effort to divert the attention. "Jack has issues with his birthday."

"You do?" the red-head asked in interest, sitting down in a chair opposite him. "Why?"

"I just don't like the fuss," Jack began, before Jill coughed loudly. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively.

"You're such a liar," Jill smirked. "I think you have issues with your birthday because you're getting so old."

"That's not true! Not true!"

"It is so," Jill announced triumphantly. "You never had a problem when you were younger, and then after your twenty-first, bam!"

"Lies!" he yelled, getting to his feet. "Why would you make up something like that?"

"No, no," Ann said slowly, a smile spreading across her face. "I think she's absolutely right. You're protesting a _little_ too much, you know?"

"I won't put up with being ridiculed," Jack called as he stormed out of the inn. Once outside, he could hear Jill and Ann burst into giggles behind him.

He walked around the town for a few minutes, before spotting Rick looking miserable outside the supermarket.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked in concern. Rick sighed and glanced up at Jack.

"It's - it's just wedding stuff, you know? Everything's happening so quickly and Karen's completely on edge - she's worried about the _smallest _things."

"Ah, well," Jack said with a grin, "It'll all be worth it once you see her walking down that aisle towards you."

"Please don't scare me," Rick groaned as he ran one hand down his face. "It's so soon. There's less than a week to go, now." He glanced around. "Look, sorry, I have to go. Karen needs me to go find some powder blue silk." He caught the confusion on Jack's face and shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know either."

"Well, good luck," Jack called as Rick walked off.

"Thanks," he called over his shoulder. "Happy birthday, by the way."

Gritting his teeth, Jack turned around only to knock an all-too-familiar librarian to the ground. "Oh Goddess," he said quickly as he held out a hand to help her up. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't worry," she replied, dusting herself off and allowing Jack a tiny smile. "It was my fault - I was reading and thinking and - well, generally not watching where I was going."

"You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "I mean, you're a lot smaller than me so I probably made you hit the ground pretty hard -"

"I'm fine," she assured him. Her eyebrows raised and she shot Jack a meaningful glance. "You can let go of my hand now."

"Oh, sorry," he said instantly. "Sorry, sorry..." he took a step back and ran one hand through his hair. "So, um... whatcha reading?"

"Nothing," the librarian replied quickly as she hid a sheaf of papers behind her back.

"Right, right - in _that_ case, I see why you said you were _reading _and thinking and not watching where you were going. It's because you _weren't_ reading, obviously."

"It's..." she began, before sighing. "It's just something I'm writing. I'm trying to see what I can write next, because I've got really severe writer's block."

"That's no good. Really severe writer's block is much worse than mild or regular writer's block," he teased. Mary simply rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't you be at the library?" he asked suddenly.

"I'm just going to open now. I figured I can open a little late - no-one bothers to come, anyway," she finished bitterly. Jack gasped.

"Oh, you rebel."

"Quiet," she instructed, turning and walking in the direction of the library. "You can come, if you want."

"Wow, thank you so, so much," Jack mock-sobbed. "I'm - I'm honoured that you're going to allow me to use a - free public service. I'm just so, incredibly gratified." He pretended to wipe away a tear and Mary rolled her eyes again.

"All right, don't then."

"Oh no, I _want _to. How could anyone in their right mind pass up such an opportunity?"

"Whatever, I've got a library to run. I don't have time for - Goddess!"

"You're smiling," Jack teased. "You're trying not to laugh. Admit it."

"Admit what?" she asked in apparent disinterest, taking such quick steps that Jack had to jog to keep up with her.

"That you find my sense of humor charming and attractive."

"I find your sense of humor charming and attractive," Mary said in a monotone.

Jack grinned and stood up a little straigher. "Really?"

"No." She unlocked the library door and walked in, Jack trailing behind her in disappointment.

"My sister finds it charming and attractive."

Mary paused in her tracks. "I'm going to pretend, for your sense of dignity and my mental health, that you didn't just say that."

"Not like _that_," the farmer said, suddenly catching on. "I mean, that's Jill. Eww. But Ann does too, and Popuri."

"I know, I know, you're the village heart-throb, Jack. Mineral Town's only answer to Romeo."

Pouting, Jack slumped down on one of the couches. "See, I don't think you mean that."

"Very observant of you," Mary congratulated him sarcastically. "I need to work."

"So you don't?"

"Don't _what_?"

"Find me charming and attractive?"

"Jack!"

"Ooh, that's a yes!"

"It is not."

"So - so it's a no?" he whimpered.

"It's a no," she agreed in her 'waaaaay at the end of my tether' voice.

"Either? Charming, _or _attractive?"

"Which one would make you shut up?"

"Charming."

"Okay. You're charming, Jack."

"So you don't find me attractive?" he asked, sounding completely outraged. "Charming? _Charming_? That's all you can give me?"

"I can give you a kick out the door," she mumbled through gritted teeth. Jack crossed his arms and slumped down, grumbling incomprehenisbly. "Look, you're going to be bored. Why don't you just leave?"

"I'm... avoiding Jill," he admitted. Mary nodded, absent-mindedly twirling a piece of ribbon around her index finger.

"Right - the birthday thing."

"Bah-jah-mah!" Jack yelled, sitting upright again and pointing straight at Mary. "How did you know?"

"Um," she hesitated as if she was trying to recall something important and complicated. "I heard from Mom, who heard it from Karen, who heard it from Sasha, who I think heard from Doug, who may or may not have heard it from -"

"Okay, never mind," Jack cut her off.

"Aww, Jack," Mary said patronizingly, frowning at his crestfallen face. "There's no secrets in a town as small as this. So, how old are you?"

"Twenty-four," he said with a grin. The brunette clapped both hands over her mouth in a failed effort not to laugh.

"Twenty-_four_?" she asked between fits of the giggles. "My Goddess, where's your walking frame?"

"Twenty-four isn't old," Jack said defensively. "You're like, twenty, twenty-one, right?"

"Well I'm definitely not twenty-four! Oh no, no, don't try to get up by yourself - wait and I'll help you."

"Funny," he replied in a voice that clearly stated that it most certainly was not. "I guess this teasing thing can go both ways, hmm?"

"Don't say too many words at once," she warned, walking over and patting him on the shoulder. "We don't want to lose our breath now, do we, dearie?" she paused thoughtfully. "I'm really good at this. I should take over from Elli at the clinic."

"Well I guess if you were a nurse, it'd pretty much totally stop people from getting sick. They'd be incredibly careful with their health so that they didn't have to go to hospital - ever."

"Jack!" Jill called, bursting in the front door as Mary opened her mouth to retort. "Oh, I wasn't expecting to find you here. But I did, so - I guess I can't trust my own judgement anymore. Huh."

"Did you have a point...?" Jack asked slowly, walking over to the blonde. Her eyes brightened and she nodded furiously.

"Yes, yes! Okay, so I know you said that you didn't want a party, and I told Ann that we need to respect your wishes, but she was like, 'it's such a waste of a perfectly good birthday' and I agreed, so we decided to compromise and we've invited me, her, Gray and you to have dinner at ours tonight! Oh, and of course you can come too, Mary."

"Um... thanks," she said, her voice surprisingly subdued. "Sorry, I don't think I can make it."

"Oh? Why not?" Jill asked, tilting her head in concern.

"So, I'll see you later, Jill," Jack said loudly, basically pushing her out the door. She looked extremely confused but complied all the same, calling goodbye and closing the door behind her softly. Jack turned back around and stared at the librarian who was sitting with her head in her hands. "You're going to have to face them sometime, you know," he said softly. She said a few muffled words along the lines of 'No, I don't.' "Mary..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'd like to be there but I just can't," she snapped, standing up suddenly and walking over to the bookshelves, hiding her face. "I'm not strong enough and I'm not brave enough. I'll just lock myself up with my books forever and try imagine that I'm not in love with him. That I never even met him. I have Mr. Darcy and Heathcliff to keep me company. I'll be just fine."

"Eh," Jack began, shaking his head. "I can't see you with Mr. Darcy, _or_ Heathcliff."

"Take. That. Back," she said through gritted teeth, shooting him the most poisonous glare he'd ever seen.

"I don't mean - well, I guess they're both kind of... cold characters, yeah? You'd need someone a lot less stand-offish. And a lot less fictional."

"Someone like you, I suppose?" she asked sarcastically. Jack frowned.

"Why not? That could work."

"It could," she said, pretending to think about it seriously. "Except... no."

"Come to dinner," he begged. "If you can deal with seeing them together in a small group, you can definately deal with it in large groups and at festivals. It's like how people who are afraid of heights climb mountains, and people who are afraid of bugs like... eat them, or something."

"Love's a little bit different."

"_Try_," he pleaded. "If you feel at any point in the night like you can't stand it anymore, just kick me under the table and I'll take you straight home."

Mary took a deep breath and glanced away. "I'll see."

"Good enough for me," Jack said with a grin. "See? Getting you to cave even the tiniest bit more is my daily challenge."

The librarian blinked at him for a few moments. "Then you have _way _too much free time."

**xxx**

"For the last time, she's _not _going with the apricot bridesmaid dresses," Ann said, slapping the table. "Karen _said _that they would just clash with my hair, and that she doesn't like the colour apricot anyway."

"Wait, so she's going to have the purple?" Mary asked incredulously. "She can't have royal purple bridesmaid dresses, they'll completely upstage the actual bride!"

"I can't believe she hasn't chosen her bridesmaids yet, anyway," Jill added in. "I mean, she's taking Ann's colouring into account for the dresses, but she still hasn't even picked out the bridesmaids."

"Oh, she'll have to have me!" Ann said, blinking at Jill. "We've been close friends for years and years. And I think she'll have Elli as the made of honor, because those two have been best friends for –"

"For the love of the Goddess," Jack exhaled, gesturing to himself and Gray. "If we hear one more word about this damn wedding, we'll -"

"You boys have no sentiment," Jill scolded. She smiled at Gray and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, you have a _little _more than Jack." Jack shot a glance at Mary to see how she was handling the situation, and he was surprised to see her sipping at a glass of water, a totally impassive expression on her face. Either she was being incredibly unaffected, or incredibly brave - and judging by some of his conversations with her in the last few days, he was guessing it was the second option.

"Are all of you going to the wedding?" Ann chirped up, forcing both the guys to stuff their fingers in their ears impatiently.

"Okay, okay," Jill relented. "What do you two babies want to talk about, then?"

"Well..." Jack began thoughfully. "I worked out how I can almost double the efficiency of the yarn-maker by slightly configuring the inner mechanism in the second compartment of -"

"Ooh, ooh, Jack?" Ann asked. With a small smile, Jack turned to her.

"Yes, Ann?"

"Shut the hell up."

"Hey, it was worth a try," he shrugged. "Better than hearing about green buttons on blue coats or something of the like."

"Oh no, you wouldn't put green buttons on blue. If anything, you'd have blue on green, but you know, blue and green should never be seen -" Jill faltered at the glares being shot at her by the two boys. "Oh – that wasn't the point. Okay."

"I have a joke!" Ann said suddenly, shooting her hand into the air and waving it frantically. "I heard it today, I'm - well, I'm not exactly sure where, but - oh wait, it was when Manna and Sasha came into the inn this afternoon. They were there because Harris had just been to..."

"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're never going to actually hear this joke?" Jack asked.

The waitress scowled.

"I'm _going_ to tell it now. Okay. There's these two cows, right, and they're standing in a field -"

"What the heck were you doing standing in a field?" Jack jumped in. Ann held up a fist wordlessly.

"Now, the first cow -" A timid knock sounded from the door, interrupting Ann's joke. Jill stood up with a sigh.

"Sorry, Ann. That'll be Popuri with the new chicken. Does anyone mind if I ask her to join us?" The four people seated at the table shook their heads and turned their attention back to Ann as Jill hurried into the tiny hallway. "Anyway, the first cow says, 'Mooooo,' and the second cow says, 'That's exactly -' " Once again she was interrupted, by Jill's voice calling for Jack urgently.

"Can it wait two seconds?" he called back, rolling his eyes. "Ann's just trying to -"

"JACK EVANS, GET HERE RIGHT NOW!" she yelled, sounding close to tears.

Beginning to panic, the farmer got to his feet and walked slowly around the corner to the open front door, all too aware of the people seated at the table straining to watch after him. Jill had her back to him, staring blankly out the open door and biting her nails. "Jill, what's - hey who's that?" he called, noticing two figures standing back in the darkness.

"Jack," a painfully familiar voice called as the smaller of the two stepped forward. "I've missed you so much. Happy birthday." He pulled back, slipping an arm around Jill who was still apparently too stunned to move.

"What - why - how -"

"Don't act so distant," Veronica instructed with a smirk. "Come here and give your baby sister a hug! You remember Tom, don't you?" Jack physically felt Jill tense up as the handsome man stepped forward and became more distinguishable.

Unable to speak Jack simply coughed, squeezing his sister's arm a little more tightly. It was Jill who, at length, replied.

"Vividly."

**xxx**


	32. Chapter 32

**xxx**

_"Don't act so distant," Veronica instructed with a smirk. "Come here and give your baby sister a hug! You remember Tom, don't you?" Jack physically felt Jill tense up as the handsome man stepped forward and became more distinguishable._

_Unable to speak, Jack simply coughed, squeezing his sister's arm a little more tightly. It was Jill who, at length, replied._

_"Vividly."_

**xxx**

"Wow, Jillian, you look fantastic!" Veronica told her sister, stepping forward with her arms outstretched. Jill hurriedly took a few steps backwards, leaving the pretty red-head to drop her arms at her sides.

"_What_ are you doing here?" Jack asked, apparently rediscovering his ability of speech. Veronica sighed and looked miserable, her eyes downcast.

"I just - ever since Daddy died, I've hated to think of you two mourning all by yourselves."

"You get off my property or we'll be mourning another death in the family," Jill spat in a sudden flare of anger. "You _back_stabbing, _conni_ving..." She stepped forward as if she was going to hit her sister, but Jack quickly wrapped his arms around her, forcing her to stay still although she was shaking with upset and rage. "Do you have any idea what you did to me?" she yelled. "Do you even _remember_, Veronica?"

"Look, calm down, honey," she said in a soothing voice. That only seemed to infuriate the blonde more and Jack started to struggle just holding her back.

"For Goddess's sake, just _go_," Jack instructed. "Stay at the inn for tonight and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"But I wanted -"

"If you're not gone in ten seconds, I'm letting her go - and helping her kill you, too!" Jack shouted. "And you - you -" he swore venomously at the dark-haired man standing back. "Get out of her - and my - sight. You don't deserve to be on the same continent as Jill, let alone on her property."

"Okay, okay," Veronica said, walking back and clutching Tom's arm. "We're staying at the inn anyway. Can you - and Jill, if she can manage - come up tomorrow at say, midday?"

"I don't think you're in any position to be making requests," Jack growled. "Leave, and maybe I'll see you sometime tomorrow. Or maybe I won't."

"All right," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'll see you two tomorrow." Jack and Jill watched in disbelief as the pair walked off quickly, glancing over their shoulders every now and then as if they were checking to see if Jill had been 'released' and was coming after them.

The siblings very slowly turned and walked back into the house, Jill clinging to Jack weakly as tears rolled down her cheeks. The three people at the table were standing when they re-entered the room, and Gray made an anxious movement to go to Jill, noticing how distraught she was. She fended off both Jack and Gray and raced into the bathroom, sobbing uncontrollably.

"What happened?" Ann asked urgently. "Who on earth was at the door?" Jack ran one hand through his hair in frustration and threw himself down onto the couch.

"It was my sister and her boyfriend," he articulated through gritted teeth. Ann shook her head.

"Jill's in the bathroom and Gray was with us the whole time. It couldn't have been," she said dumbly. Jack glared at her for a few moments, before she gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. "_Oh_, Tom and Valerie?"

"Veronica," the farmer corrected dryly. Gray's eyes narrowed at Ann's words and he turned around so his back was facing the group.

"He's here?" he asked, clenching his fists. "Her old boyfriend? In Mineral Town?"

"At the inn," Jack exhaled, making Ann gasp.

"Oh! That's who our reservation until mid-winter was! Goddess, if I'd known, no _way _would I have fluffed their pillows four times. Two, maximum."

"Mid-winter?" Jack and Gray asked together in disbelief.

"Yeah," Ann nodded. "I was all excited when I heard it was a girl and a guy about our age, but now... well, it's kind of a let-down. I'm _so _not cooking _them _a complimentary breakfast tomorrow." She hesitated as Jack groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Do you... want us to go?"

"That'd probably be best," he nodded in agreement. "Sorry about this, but Jill's pretty distraught."

"Okay," Ann said understandingly. "See you later." She left and Mary followed her to the door. She stopped in the door-frame and turned around.

"Jack," she began, "I - don't know the story, or understand why this is a bad thing - but if you need to talk, come up to the library whenever you want."

"Thanks, Mares," he said, glancing up and attempting a smile. "That's sweet of you."

The librarian shrugged, catching Gray's eye for a second. "It's nothing, considering all you've done for me. Bye." She also left, but Gray seemed hesitant about leaving.

"Is she gonna be okay?" he asked nervously, gesturing to the bathroom door. Jack shook his head.

"This is really big. She'll be freaked out for a few hours, then the actual emotion will really kick in. It's not going to be fun."

"Do you think she'll talk to me?" the blacksmith asked, twisting his hands. Jack shrugged once again.

"It's worth a try - but if she pushes you away, don't take it personally. _I_ don't feel like tackling her right now, and I'm her brother."

"Jill?" Gray called gently, walking over to the bathroom door and knocking lightly. "You okay?"

She gave a choked laugh in reply. "Oh, I'm just brilliant."

"Um..." he said, frowning slightly. "Well, do you want me to stay?"

The door unlocked and Jill walked out, her eyes red and her hair clinging to her face. She held out her arms and he quickly gave her a hug, holding her tight as she began to cry again. "Sorry - I n-need to be alone," she mumbled between sobs.

"Goddess, Jill," Jack said as he walked over and pried her off Gray, hugging her himself. "You can't let yourself get so worked up. I know that she's a complete cow, and he - well, words aren't enough for _that _jerk, but don't let this get to you. We'll talk to them, find out what the hell they want, then send them out of our lives for good."

"I - I - Tom," she sniffed almost incomprehensibly. "He looked - exactly - the same. He doesn't - miss me - at all."

"You don't miss _him_ either," Jack said encouragingly. "You need to remember what he did to you."

"You really think I could forget?" she snapped, pulling away from him aggressively. "Stop patronising me." She stormed back into the bathroom, slamming the door as Jack ran a weary hand down his face.

"Goddess... this is bad..." he muttered, shaking his head. "She hardly ever gets like this. I mean, she gets sad, but rarely angry. Maybe we should just leave her for tonight and try talk to her in the morning."

"Yeah," Gray nodded immediately, "Okay. I'll come by and talk to her tomorrow." He walked over and rested a hand on the bathroom door. "Jill? I'm going now." He strained to listen, but there was no reply except for the sound of sobbing. "I'll come over tomorrow." Still he got no reply, and he bit his lip as he walked over to the front door, nodding curtly to Jack and closing it loudly behind him.

Jack sighed and sat down, his chin resting in his hands. She needed time. He should let her sleep it off, and everything would be fine in the morning.

...Right?

Wrong.

**xxx**

"Come on, Jill," Jack coaxed the next morning as she lay, still in bed. "Just come to the inn with me for five minutes and let them explain themselves. They might have a good reason for what they did. I sincerely doubt it, but they just might."

"No," she mumbled, rolling onto her side. "Leave me alone."

"Jill," he said, reaching out and touching her blonde hair. She smacked his hand away.

"I said _no_."

With a long sigh, Jack stood up. "All right, all right. I'll go, and when I get back I'll tell you what they said." The blonde didn't reply, and her brother grabbed his coat, his face distressed.

Ten minutes later he was facing Tom and Veronica over a table at the inn. With a bright smile, Veronica reached over and grasped his hand.

"So how've you been?" she asked cheerfully. "How's Jill? What's farming like?"

"Everything's just fine," he replied sharply as he pulled his hand away. "Jill was a little upset at first, but can you blame her?"

"Well, we agreed that she actually looks really good," Tom began. "I think country life's been doing her some favours."

"You, don't talk to me," Jack instructed. The dark-haired man smirked and held both hands up.

"Okay," he whistled. "No need to get all aggressive."

"I'll show you aggressive," Jack threatened before his sister jumped in.

"So," she said quickly, "We're here until Winter 17th, which should be really great. I've never been to the country before, and this place seems _so _sweet."

"How did you find it?" Jack asked. Veronica shrugged.

"I talked to a few of your friends, called the airlines, checked the last time your credit card was used -"

"You were pretty desperate to find us, hmm?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, Jack. We're family. I couldn't stand to think that one little mistake could cost us all that closeness and sharing. I miss both of you."

"Jill's not going to just 'forgive you,' you know," Jack exclaimed. "You two broke her heart. You're married now. You've got a daughter, right?"

"Yes, oh, oh! We haven't told you about little Kayla!" Veronica squealed. "That reminds me, wait here. I have something for you." She raced off upstairs, leaving Tom and Jack eyeing each-other suspiciously.

"Seriously, how's Jill doing?" Tom asked, leaning on one elbow. Jack scowled.

"Uh, 'seriously', I'm not going to discuss my sister with you. You don't deserve her to speak to you ever again."

"I'm not a bad guy," he grinned. "Come on, we used to get along well."

"Yeah, that was kind of _before _you cheated on my little sister with my other little sister. So right now, you're basically not my favourite person."

"I didn't think it would be such a big deal -"

"Here we are!" the pretty red-head called, shaking back a few curls, holding several large albums in her arms. "Mom wanted me to bring you some of these, so we just picked a few that had a lot of photos of you and Jill in them. Here, I'll show you our Kayla." She dropped the photo albums on the table and picked up a small black one, flipping through to the middle. "Here's a recent photo." She showed him a beautiful toddler with Tom's dark hair and bright blue eyes, strikingly similar to Jill's. "Here she is with Mom... actually, Mom's looking after her for the season that we're here. She sends you her love, by the way."

"And Jill?" Jack prompted. His sister hesitated.

"Well... to tell you the truth, she didn't really mention Jill. I'm sure it wasn't anything personal - she probably just... forgot."

"How lovely – and typical – of her," he snapped. Closing the album impatiently, he ran one hand through his hair. "So - you're definitely staying until mid-winter."

"Oh yes," Veronica nodded. "This town's just adorable. Although," she began in a quite different voice, "I'm going to put in a complaint about the service at this place. That horrible, insolent waitress girl's behavior has been nothing short of disgraceful. She spilled hot coffee all over an expensive sundress of mine this morning, _ruined _it, and rather than apologizing she took off laughing. I'm certainly going to speak to the manager, see if I can't get the brat fired."

"Her dad runs the place," Jack said as he shot Ann an approving glance. "So that might be a little difficult."

"Well, that explains things," his sister scoffed. "Ironic, that she sees herself as above _us_, yet she's a waitress for her father. That's country-town mentality for you."

"I should get going," Jack said angrily, standing up. Tom nodded and got to his feet as well.

"We were going to take a walk around the town anyway - do a little exploring. Ready, honey?" he reached out and took Veronica's hand.

She smiled and moved over to Jack. "I'll talk to you later," she said, as he grudgingly allowed her to kiss his cheek. He waited until the large doors had closed behind them, before quickly crossing the room to Ann.

"I could kiss you right now," he muttered with a grin. "Thank you so much. You _have _to make their lives hell."

"Oh, I am," she laughed. "Funny story, this morning, she was clicking her fingers at me, like so -" she demonstrated "- And acting all high and mighty, so I oh-so-conveniently spilt a pot of coffee on her. Heh."

"I know," Jack exhaled humorously, "You... horrible, insolent little waitress girl."

"Oh - she told you," Ann said with a wry grin. "Yeah, she said that to me as well. I nearly punched her."

"Don't take it to heart," Jack said seriously. "There's nothing wrong with waitressing, and 'horrible, insolent' coming from _her_ basically means she likes you."

Ann snorted. "Pfft. As if I care about _that_. Dude, she called me a little girl."

Jack blinked for a few moments. "Uh... how dare she...?"

"I know, right? I - oh." The waitress's face fell and Jack turned to see Gray entering the inn, looking pale and worried. He crossed the room and directed his words at Jack.

"I went to see Jill this morning," he began, "But the door was locked, and she refused to let me in. She just kept telling me to go away -"

"Hey, stop," Jack said gently. "She's just weird at the moment. She's not the type to stay in bed and sulk - she'll have cheered up by tomorrow."

"I hope so," Gray said quietly. "Look, will you come tell me when she's back to normal? I'm gonna go lie down." He left, leaving Ann and Jack staring at each-other.

"Oh!" Ann said quickly, smacking his arm. "Goddess, I had something to tell you. I'm irreversibly traumatized."

Jack frowned. "That's… good to hear."

"I swear on my life," she began, "That your tall, dark and handsome friend was hitting on me last night."

"He's not my friend," Jack said grumpily, before registering Ann's words. "Wait, _what_?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed in annoyance. "The pretty girl was up in the room or something, _he _was at the bar, and Dad was back in the kitchen, so we were the only two in here. And he went to tip me, but he grabbed my hand as he passed me the money."

"Oh, Ann," the farmer sighed. "That could have been accidental."

"It wasn't," she warned, "Because he told me how 'soft my hands were' and _winked_ at me."

Jack had to suppress a chuckle. "I'm sorry... what the hell kind of a pick-up line is that? 'Excuse me, Miss? I just wanted to say, you have the softest hands...' Oh, _how_ romantic. _I _could do better."

"It's not a competition," Ann said dryly. Jack shot her a meaningful glance and moved closer, taking her hand.

"For your heart, Ann," he began in a completely different voice, "I'd compete for the rest of my life." The waitress bit her lip hesitantly, then shook her head.

"No. No, I'm sorry. You really can't pull it off."

"Aw, come on!" Jack whined. "If you were just some girl, not like... 'Ann'... which would you have gone for?"

"Definitely Tom," she said as she wiped down a table. He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, until she turned around and smiled. "Ah, cheer up. I'm only joking. I'd go for you, no competition at all."

"I know," Jack said casually. Ann frowned.

"Okay, no. I'm back to Tom."

Four days later, almost nothing had changed in the situation. Jack continued to have civil discussions with his sister and her husband, while Jill refused to leave the house.

On the thirteenth of May, Jill was sitting curled up on the couch in a bathrobe, staring absent-mindedly at a cooking show on the television. A bundle of gifts sat unceremoniously, untouched on her bedroom floor, and the covers on her bed were pulled back and rumpled, as if they'd just been slept in though it was two in the afternoon.

Jack stood in the doorway, watching the scene in distress. The blonde hadn't been out of the house since Veronica and Tom showed up - as a matter of fact, Jack didn't think she'd even been out of her _bathrobe _since they'd shown up. She'd shown no interest whatsoever in celebrating her birthday the day before, and by the looks of it, she wouldn't even be attending Rick and Karen's wedding in two days.

"Jill?" he said gently, not gaining a reply. "Jill," he exhaled a little more forcefully. "Jill!"

"Yes?" she replied in a quiet voice.

"Do you want to go out for a walk?"

"No."

"Well... do you want to go to the inn with me?"

"No."

"You need to get out of the house." She didn't reply. "It's unhealthy for you to do this to yourself. You've done nothing wrong!" she remained silent, and Jack grabbed her shoulders in exasperation. "For Goddess's sake, answer me!"

"Leave me alone," she whispered, burying her head in her hands.

"I know you're stressed out, but can't you see that you're being selfish?" he said. "You didn't even look twice at all the people who came by to wish you a happy birthday, and you haven't _spoken _to Gray in days. It's not his fault."

"I didn't say it was," she replied shortly.

"Are you going to go to Rick's wedding?" he asked impatiently. His sister shrugged listlessly and he sighed. "You can't miss that. He and Karen will never forgive you." Jill made an incomprehensible noise, making Jack grit his teeth. "Look, this isn't easy on me either. I'm not the one that gets to sulk around the house all day; _I_ have to go out and talk to them. _I_ can't just hide away from everyone and hope that things will all get better."

"Stop it," she begged in a small voice.

Jack stepped away from her briskly, standing right by the door. "You need to learn to face up to things. You're a coward." He stormed outside, not sure where he was going and not really caring.

It only took a couple of minutes for the guilt to set in, like a punch to the stomach. He'd yelled at Jill; attacked her at her absolute weakest. And he'd called _her _a coward. Of course it was going to hurt her, knowing that Tom and Veronica were just a hundred metres away from her at times. She'd loved him, and probably still did - it wasn't just that she was mad at them for what they did to her, she was truly, seriously hurt that she'd had someone so special just pulled away. She wasn't coping well at all - but he certainly wasn't helping by telling her off.

Without really registering, he'd made his way directly to Mother's Hill. Standing with her back to him, examining a cluster of plants, was a girl with a long, dark braid. Jack made his way over to her and stepped out in front of her miserably, making her squeal and bring one hand to her chest. After several deep breaths, she scowled. "Jack, ever frighten me like that again," she began sweetly, "And the penalty is death." She faltered at the stony look on his face and got to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he pouted, striding over to a soft patch of grass and throwing himself down, crossing his arms over his chest. Inwardly rolling her eyes at his theatrics, Mary walked over and gently sat down next to him.

"No you're not..."

"No, I'm not."

"... Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

Jack hesitated, then nodded. "Um..." he exhaled slowly, then recited the story of Jill's past with Tom and Veronica, almost in a monotone. When he finished, he glanced up to see the librarian with one hand over her mouth, her eyes huge behind her glasses.

"W-wow," she stuttered. "That's like... something straight out of a melodrama. Poor Jill."

"She's been sulking and depressed since they got here," Jack admitted, "And I - haven't been nearly as supportive as I should be. I kind of told her to get over it."

"Jack," Mary scolded. "That approach isn't going to help her. She needs sympathy - she needs you to try understand where she's coming from; why she's feeling the way that she is."

"I do now," he insisted, "But... Goddess, I'm scared for her. I've never seen her like this, and I really don't like it. You know when we were kids, she was always the cheerful, bubbly one that helped _me _with relationship problems." Mary giggled and Jack glared at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she replied. "It's just that... well, I'm not exactly the biggest expert on sibling interaction, but you've always seemed like the stronger, collected one in my eyes."

Jack shook his head. "That's because she changed after Tom left her." He sighed. "See, I don't think I ever had a relationship for longer than two weeks. So naturally, I had a lot of fights and break-ups. But her and Tom..." Once again, he shook his head. "They had this... surreal, perfect relationship. She loved him so much, and I _know _that he loved her. I don't think they fought once in thirteen years."

"Well, that explains it," Mary shrugged. "A relationship without conflict and arguments isn't a relationship at all. At least…" she paused. "At least in romance novels."

Jack laughed. "I guess. At least we know that you'll never have that problem."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her eyes flashing dangerously. Jack held up both hands defensively.

"Nothing. But you were _so_ ready to make that little comment into a fight."

"Anyway," she glared, eager to change the subject, "Your sister and her husband are here until... mid-winter, did Ann say?"

Jack's face fell and his shoulders slumped. "Apparently. I hope they change their minds, though. Goddess, if Jill's going to be like this until then..." he buried his face in his hands and his next words came out muffled. "I don't think I can cope."

"Hey," Mary said in a surprisingly gentle voice, touching his knee lightly. "It'll be okay. Jill's a strong little character, and besides..." she trailed off and her mouth set in a firm line. "She has you and Gray to look after her."

"She won't speak to Gray," he replied quietly, "And she's hardly speaking to me. I think she needs..." he looked up at Mary suddenly, then shook his head and looked away.

"Needs what?"

"Never mind."

"Jack," Mary warned, placing her hands on her hips. He sighed.

"I can get Ann to do it... despite her utter lack of compassion and tact..." Mary cleared her throat impatiently.

"Tell me what it is, and I'll do it. The Goddess knows I owe you, for listening to me so much the past few weeks."

"You don't owe me anything," he replied immediately. "I helped you because I liked knowing that maybe I was a part of helping a friend through a tough time."

"And right now, you're going through a tough time," she said, slowly and adamantly, "And I'd like to know if there's anything at all _I_ can do to help _you_."

"You're so stubborn," Jack sighed, half-chuckling before his face became serious. "Look, I – thought that maybe if she wasn't going to talk to Gray or I, she might... possibly talk to another girl about it. But... she might want to talk about Gray, and her relationship with him... and I know that'd hurt you."

She shrugged. "Of course I can do that." Glancing to the side, she continued. "I need to confront the fact that he and Jill are together at _some_ point. I can be strong when I need to be – I'm not going to burst into tears in front of her, you know." She blinked up at the sky with a tiny smile. "It doesn't hurt so bad these days. I mean, it hurts... a lot, still... but I... I don't know." Jack turned to face her, and she blushed. "I guess I think about him a little less than I used to."

"That's fantastic," he said sincerely. "Baby steps, right?"

"Hopefully," Mary sighed. Jack rose to his feet and extended a hand to help her up.

"I'll walk you back," he offered. "Where are your parents, anyway? It's... it's not Monday. Mary, why are you even here?"

She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I... I couldn't stay in the library today. I, um... needed some fresh air."

Jack frowned. "Okay... are you sure you're alright?"

"Fine," she said quickly. "Come on, then." She hurried on ahead of him, leaving him just a little puzzled.

**xxx**

When he finally returned home, the first thing he saw was Jill sitting numbly in the same place she'd been when he left, watching some rubbish on television about a princess and... some form of demon, by the look of it.

"Jill?" he said quietly, joining her on the couch. "I'm sorry for yelling, earlier."

"That's okay," she replied quietly.

"... Are you feeling any better?"

She shrugged.

"... What are you watching?"

She shrugged again.

"... Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?"

She shook her head.

Jack sighed and bit his lip, settling back into the couch and closing his eyes for strength. He was hugely surprised when he heard Jill's voice speaking of her own accord a few moments later.

"What are those?" she asked curiously. Jack opened his eyes and his heart dropped as he saw her pointing at the photo albums Veronica had brought for him. He cursed himself for putting them on the bookshelf, in plain sight.

"N-nothing," he said hurriedly. "Just some... you know, old albums. They're empty."

"They're familiar," she retorted, getting up and shuffling over to them. "Aren't these from home?"

Jack paused. "Well... yes..."

"How did you get them?" she asked, running a hand over the front cover of one.

"Um... I -" he faltered, as the look on her face told him it would be impossible to lie to her. "Veronica brought them for me," he sighed. "You probably don't want to look – there's a lot of older photos as well... I mean, I've only looked through two of them..."

"Yeah, well," she carried over the four albums awkwardly. "I guess I'd better do the rest, then." She flipped open the smallest, black album and was immediately confronted with pictures of an adorable little girl in Tom's arms, then in Veronica's, then in her Mom's. There were even photos of her Dad, laughing as he threw the little girl up in the air. "Is this her?" she asked, in a steady voice. Jack nodded slowly, and much to his surprise, she smiled. "She has my eyes. She's beautiful, isn't she?" Jill trailed off, running one finger down the photo lightly. When she glanced up at Jack, her eyes were teary. "Could – could you leave me, for a little while? I'd like to look at... these... alone."

"Yeah, of course," he exclaimed as he shot up off the couch. "Take your time." Jack scampered out thankfully, obviously convinced that he'd got off lightly.

With a barely audible sigh, Jill closed the first photo album and picked up a second. Her heart tightened immediately as she recognized the photos from her high-school years – the first page showing her and her sister on Veronica's first day of high-school, laughing in a variety of poses, their arms around each-other as they wore their 'dorky private school' uniforms.

Mid-thigh length tartan skirts, white shirts and black ties under a red jumper and red blazer. White, knee high socks that showed off the long, tanned legs of both, and highly polished black, high-heeled school shoes. When she turned the page, Jack was standing in the middle of them both and despite herself, she stifled a laugh. His neat, posh uniform was so different to the casual working clothes she was used to seeing him in now. Obviously, she thought, examining the genuine affection between all three siblings, that wasn't the only thing that had changed.

Jack, playing football in his school colours, his arms raised above his head as if he'd just scored a goal. Veronica, flashing a brilliant smile as she stood atop a cheerleading pyramid, her long hair blowing behind her. The other two had always been so well-rounded, so good at all their extra-curricular activities as well as scoring perfect marks in school, and having unbelievably busy social lives. So what on earth had happened to her, Jill? She was never any good at anything. She didn't really care, either, when she had Tom. But now...

Most of the photos _were _of Veronica, with a significant percentage of them Jack's. She couldn't expect anything more. They were taken at momentous occasions; award ceremonies, sporting fields, school concerts; everything that Jill had never been good enough to do. What was it Tom always said to her when she pointed out Veronica's talents? "If I cared about how pretty Veronica was, or how smart Veronica was, or how talented Veronica was, I'd be dating her, wouldn't I? But who did I choose, Jill?"

Amazing, how much better those words had made her feel at the time. But he ended up choosing Veronica, didn't he?

"Oh, Goddess..." she murmured softly as she stopped on a page in the middle of the album. There were photos of her, sure enough, dressed in a soft, flowing blue dress that reached the floor. She looked beautiful – but it was the tall, confident man next to her that caught her eye. Tom... he'd always been so... perfect. His arms were draped around her affectionately as they smiled for the camera on the night of their prom. There had been real love there; she could see it in the eyes of both her _and _him. Where had that love gone, on his part? What had she done wrong? When did it all start to unravel?

Her heart beating quickly, she flipped through to the end of the album. It had been at the end of Veronica's schooling that she'd started to date Tom, so maybe, if there were photos of them together...

Now she wished she hadn't looked for them. There were many, so many, and with every one of them feeling like a knife, the pain was unbearable. A photo of Tom's arms around Veronica's waist, a photo of them kissing in front of a sunset, a photo of them at the beach together. Seeing them left no doubt in Jill's mind – she loved Tom. Loved him as much as she had thirteen or fourteen years ago. But Goddess, she didn't want to love him. She wanted anything but that.

Jill quickly snapped the photo shut and became vaguely aware of the tears streaming down her cheeks. She brushed them away impatiently and sniffed, grabbing the third album. She half-chuckled as she saw the first photo, a close-up of herself at about four years old, with the _dorkiest _haircut she'd ever seen in her life. At least this album seemed a lot safer. She let herself laugh out loud when she saw Jack, grinning at the camera with two front teeth missing, and her heart softened the tiniest bit at a picture of Veronica as a tiny, red-haired toddler.

"I remember this house," she whispered, examining pictures of a familiar suburban home. "We must've lived there..."

It was the photo she saw next that made her heart stop all together.

At first, it seemed to be just a group photo of her family, and another. Her mother stood, holding Veronica, with a tired-looking woman. Jill was sitting on the lowest of a flight of stairs, her arm entwined with that of the strawberry-blonde girl next to her, cheesy grins on both their faces. Her father was standing next to another, very good-looking and tall man, with his hand on Jack's shoulder, and the other man had a hand on the shoulder of a small, red-haired, serious looking boy.

Gray.

She stifled a squeal of surprise as she leant in, her nose touching the photograph. It wasn't. It couldn't be! But it looked so, so much like him.

Her mind flew back to that night on Mother's Hill. He said he had a mother, a father, and a younger sister. That was it. Saibara had said the same thing.

"Oh my..." her dreams. Those weird, memory-like dreams she'd had months ago. This was it! This was the family she'd remembered! Kate, the little girl. But – it couldn't be Gray! It couldn't, it couldn't, it – it was.

In fast-motion, she jumped off the couch and ran to her wardrobe, yanking out a shirt and jeans. She brushed her hair and tidied herself up like she hadn't bothered to for days, then without even remembering shoes, she dashed out the door just in time to see Gray exiting the blacksmiths miserably.

"Gray!" she called frantically. "Gray!" He turned around in shock, and she ran into his arms joyfully, nearly bowling him over.

"Jill – you're up," he observed, sounding confused and thrilled at the same time. "What – what's going on?"

"I've gotta show you something," she laughed happily. "Would you hurry up? Come on!" She sprinted off eagerly, dragging an extremely confused man behind her. What a sudden difference in her personality – she was smiling, something she certainly hadn't done in days.

"Here," she said triumphantly when they reached her house. She picked up the album from the couch and walked over to the table with it, laying it down and opening it to the right page. Gray leaned in, and his face paled sickeningly as he leapt back, as if she'd burnt him.

"How did you get a photo of my family?" he asked defensively, in a rougher tone than he'd ever used on her before. Jill shook her head quickly, her hands trembling as she idiotically, slowly remembered a few 'tiny details' about his family.

"Gray, look. Look at the other family with yours."

He tentatively approached the photo again. His eyes squinted in discomfort as he tried to look anywhere but at his father. Obviously, Jill observed, he was still terrified of his dad, years after he'd died. The revelation brought helpless tears to her eyes.

He took a few moments, then looked up at her, his eyes wide. "It's not -"

"Yes," she nodded tearfully as he stepped closer to her. "It is. We knew each-other, Gray! We were friends! Don't you remember?"

"Kind of," he said slowly, his eyes brightening. "Goddess, Jill! You – you moved house, right?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, pieces of the past returning to her. "And I had this ridiculous crush on you -"

Gray shook his head. "Goddess, how... how did we not remember? In this year and a half you've been here, I never even..." Jill shrugged and traced the young Gray's face in the photo lightly, before her gaze travelled to the tall, extremely handsome man with a hand on his shoulder.

"That's..."

"My father," the blacksmith said shortly, pressing his lips together firmly.

"He looks so kind," she said softly, examining the photo closer. "I mean, look at his eyes. I'd never suspect that he'd be the the type to -" she cut herself off abruptly.

"What?" Gray asked immediately, his eyes narrowing. "The type to what?"

"Water? Do – would you like some?" Jill offered quickly, sidling away. Not in a humorous mood, Gray grabbed her elbow and pulled her back.

"What do you know about my dad?"

"Nothing, Gray. I was confusing him with someone else, okay?"

"Don't lie to me!" he yelled, frightening her.

She snapped. "You don't need to keep it to yourself, Gray," she pleaded. "Why can't you talk to me about it? Why didn't you ever tell me he abused you?"

"You don't know a thing about it," he snarled. "What gives you the _right_..."

"I'm your girlfriend," she replied calmly.

"And you've sure as hell acted like it these last few days, haven't you?" he exploded, clenching his fists and taking large strides away from her. "Locking yourself up, refusing to speak to me, moping about your old boyfriend!"

"Gray -"

"Who told you?" he demanded suddenly. "No, that's a stupid question, I know damn well who. Why! Why would he tell you that?"

"Saibara loves you," she murmured. "He's scared to lose you."

"And that justifies this, does it?" he spat. "I'll never forgive him. I'll _never _forgive him."

"Please stop – just stop yelling, you're scaring me –"

"Oh, and you didn't scare me at all, these last few days?" he asked incredulously. "No, _I've_ been just fine, watching the only girl I've ever loved tear herself apart over another guy. And you want me to talk to you! You want me to tell you all about my problems with my dad when I was six damn years old? Maybe, Jill, you should sort yourself out before you start lecturing me. I love you, I've loved you for a year, I've told you and told you - and you're still so in love with that moron – a guy who hurt you on a level that I never would – you can't bring yourself to say it back, can you?"

"I -"

"Can you?"

She wiped a stray tear from her face and looked at the ground silently. Nodding and biting his lip, Gray stared at her for a few moments, before turning and shoving the door open.

"Gray," Jill pleaded. "Wait." He stopped immediately, but hesitated before turning back to her. When he finally did, he couldn't look her in the eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said softly, walking over to him and placing both hands on his chest. The gesture seemed to calm him, and he bowed his head.

"You're... you're just... Goddess, Jill," he muttered. She shook her head and clasped her hands around the back of his neck.

"I - I know I've been, just... ridiculous," she choked, "And I don't know what to say, I - don't know what to do now. But I don't want to hurt you. And I don't want to lose you."

"You drive me crazy, you know?" he asked, slipping his arms around her waist. "I try not to lose my temper, but when I think of that guy, and how much he hurt you... then the fact that you'll still probably never love _me_ that much, I just want to..."

"Don't say that," she instructed as she ran the back of her hand down his cheek. "Tom - I hate him, so much, Gray. He hurt me, and he's still hurting me right now. I'm not..." she exhaled shakily. "I'm not... over him, though."

"I know," he admitted in a strained voice. "I'm... here for you until you make a decision."

"I don't deserve you."

"You deserve anyone you want."

She laughed. "You're the greatest guy in the world, you know that?"

He took her hand and kissed her on the top of the head. "You need to get out of this house."

"I know," she muttered, intertwining her fingers with his distractedly. "Let me get dressed, and we'll go to the inn."

"Are you sure?" he asked carefully. "You do know your sister's staying there, right?"

"Have you seen her?" Jill said quickly. Gray paused.

"Only from a distance."

"Did you think she was pretty?" she stared determinedly at the ground as she said it. "She is, she's gorgeous, isn't she?"

"Compared to you, Jill," he said softly, "She's nothing."

**xxx**


	33. Chapter 33

**xxx**

'_Dear Jack,_

_In case you were worried, I've gone out to the inn with Gray. I'm feeling a lot better. Sorry for being a brat earlier. I have something interesting to tell you when I get home. In case you can't wait, check the third page of the large, blue photo album. (I left it on the table. Right next to this note. So if you can't find it, you have a problem.) Have you checked it? Have you? Amazing, hey? I know. Wow._

_Love, Jill._'

Jack read the short note with a smile on his face, his chest unclenching with relief. He really had been worried to come home and not find Jill there, only because of the state she'd been in when he left her. At first, he'd freaked out that she'd gotten depressed over the photo albums and nearly smacked his head against a wall as self-punishment for leaving her alone.

Curious as to her message about the photo album, he picked it up and opened it to the third page. He sighed, seeing a large group photo. Jill had a weird sense of humor, if she thought it was funny to - wait a second.

"Oh my God," Jack exclaimed, squinting in disbelief. Gray? Gray? What was he doing in a photo with Jill and the rest of his family? They must have known each-other as kids, but _how _bizarre! Jack, himself, had no recollection of knowing Gray... but the pretty little girl beside Jill... he smirked and nodded, remembering his childhood crush. Kate, that was her name.

He stood up and got his coat, ready to go out and discuss these revelations with Gray and Jill, but stopped himself as he reached the door. He knew that the couple had been having problems since Veronica and Tom had shown up - heck, maybe even before - and now they were going out, just the two of them, to patch things up. He could wait.

"You really haven't spoken to her?" Jill asked as she sat opposite Gray at the inn, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Not at all?"

"Well," he hesitated, "You know... she asked me which direction the beach was, once. But as for that guy Tom, I haven't seen him. It's probably better that I don't see him at all."

Jill gave a tiny smile and sipped at her juice, promptly choking as her eyes widened. Gray grabbed her hand in panic, but she shook her head, her eyes watering.

"I'm – okay," she coughed, taking deep breaths. "Went down the wrong way." She determinedly studied her hands, refusing to look up.

"Jill, what are you -"

"Wow!" a high pitched voice exclaimed. "Jill! You're... out. Are you feeling better? I heard you were sick."

"I'm fine, Veronica," she answered, her voice void of emotion. "I'm surprised you care."

"Well, you _are_ my sister," she laughed as she placed two perfectly manicured hands on the table. "And who's this?"

"Gray," the blonde replied sulkily. Veronica tutted and put her hands on her hips.

"Where are your manners, Jillian?" she asked, batting long, dark eyelashes at Gray. "Aren't you going to introduce me properly?"

"Veronica, this is Gray. Gray's a blacksmith, he's my boyfriend, and we've been together since the end of Summer," Jill told her in a monotonal voice. Veronica held out a hand gracefully and shot Gray a pretty smile.

"It's so nice to meet you," she said in a smooth, high voice. "I can tell I'm going to love it here – the people I've met are so charming."

"Really?" Gray replied, clearing his throat and trying to be polite while at the same time, he was all too aware of the death-glare Jill was shooting in his direction. "Uh - so, who _have _you met?"

"...Well, pretty much just you," she giggled, flipping some perfect auburn curls over her shoulder.

"And Gray," Jill interrupted through gritted teeth, obviously having snapped, "This is Veronica. She's a two-faced backstabber, and her hobbies include stealing and marrying my boyfriends."

"Don't exaggerate so much, Jillian," she said airily, maintaining steady eye-contact with Gray. "I only did that once."

"I only ever _had_ one boyfriend!"

"Coincidence," she insisted, waving one hand dismissively.

"Oh for Goddess's sake, you little priss –"

"Jill?" Gray interrupted quietly. "I'm... really sorry... I need to get to work. Are you all right here by yourself?" She silently waved at him, signalling yes, and he thankfully made his escape.

"So," Veronica whispered, clasping her hands together. "He seems nice. And _so _cute."

"Ah ah," Jill said quickly. "Don't forget, you're only allowed to _completely_ ruin my life once every three years, maximum."

"When are you going to let that go?" the red-head asked impatiently.

"No, can I just ask you one thing?" Jill said, frustrated. "Why? Why Tom? You were always the prettier, smarter, more popular one. Guys would fall all over themselves to get to you – they _all _liked you. So why did you have to take the only one who liked me?" She was blinking back angry tears as she finished.

"I just want to talk to you about it," Veronica begged. "Just... try and see it from my point of view. I really, really liked Tom for quite some time while you were dating him, you know? And when I found out he liked me back... well, what was I supposed to do?"

"Oh!" Jill exclaimed sarcastically, bringing a hand to her chest. "You poor, poor girl. That must've been so hard on you. ALL is forgiven."

"You're so sarcastic now," Veronica pouted. "You were such a cool big sister."

"Yeah well," she answered, taking a sip of her juice. "You kind of lose a little faith in the world, after being stabbed in the back like that. And if you so much as look at Gray sideways, I swear, I'll scratch your eyes out."

"Fine," she exhaled. "I won't say a word to him."

"Very generous of you. I know how hard it is for you to _not _marry my boyfriends."

"Hey, Jill," a deep voice said, making her heart stop. She closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them to see Tom's handsome face staring at her in concern. "Are you okay? You don't look too well."

"I'm just fine," she wavered in a high, squeaky voice. "I – have to be somewhere..."

"How's farm-life treating you?" he joked. "You never did strike me as the type."

"It's okay," she shot back quickly, her eyes blurring with tears. "I need... need to get home."

"See you around," Tom called as Veronica waved after her eagerly. Her heart and head pounding, Jill walked quickly away from them and out of the inn, stopping when she reached the gate of the blacksmiths. She leaned on it, and inhaled deeply, calming herself down. That hadn't gone as badly as she'd thought it would – she hadn't exactly 'played it cool,' but she'd kept her composure to a certain extent, right?

"I won't let them win," she told herself, holding her head up high. "They're not going to break me."

**xxx**

When she got home, Jack seemed to be extremely bored, sitting on the couch and swinging his legs against it with a THUD. THUD. THUD, that would obviously drive her insane after a few minutes. He grinned when he saw her.

"I ran into Gray outside the blacksmith's," he began. "Goddess, that's a weird coincidence with that photo, isn't it?"

"I know," she replied in a steady voice. "You have no idea how shocked I was when I found it – but once I started to think, I remembered a fair bit. Still, it's wonderful – kind of spooky, but wonderful."

"I remember his sister, all right," Jack grinned, raising an eyebrow. "I liked her. Bet she's a good-looking little thing now."

Her breath caught in her chest and she lowered her eyes sympathetically. "Gray's sister, um... died, Jack."

He furrowed his brow. "Are you serious? How?"

"Car accident."

"That's terrible," he said as he bit his lip. "How long ago?"

"Years and years. She was only about five, I think."

"Ugh," he muttered, shaking his head. "Makes you think, doesn't it?" Jill nodded and opened her mouth to say something else, when she was cut off by a loud, purposeful knock at the door. Her jaw dropped.

"If that's _them_," she began slowly, "I swear I'm jumping out the window." Frowning, Jack walked over and opened the door cautiously, losing his balance as a beautiful brunette whirled in, dragging a nervous looking man behind her.

"Seven or six of them," Karen was saying in an adamant voice. "We need to make sure that the church is decorated before 9am tomorrow, and – oh, damn..." she pulled a notebook and three heavy folders from a backpack, sat down at the dining table, flipped the notebook open and started scribbling frantically.

"Um... hi there," Jack began, puzzled. Rick shot him an apologetic glance, and Karen hushed them all, before letting out a yell of anguish.

"NO! Rick, I forgot to co-ordinate the flowers for the men's lapels!" Her fiancee shot her a blank look, and she waved her hands around in disbelief. "FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODDESS, GO! GO!" He went, bolting for the front door and running like the wind up and out of their gate. With a sigh, Karen turned back, banging her fist on the table. "I need a glass of water! Heavens, what does a bride-to-be need to do to get some help around here?"

"Stressed, Karen?" Jill asked in amusement as Jack hurriedly poured her a glass of water.

"Yes," she groaned, running one hand through her long hair. "Is it obvious?"

Jill hesitated. "A little. So what's up?"

She cleared her throat, suddenly business-like. "I know it's short notice, but Rick and I would be honoured if you two were in the wedding."

"Y-you mean as a bridesmaid?" Jill asked, her face lighting up. But almost immediately, her face fell. "But... Karen, the wedding's tomorrow, and I haven't been measured for a dress, or –"

"Oh, don't worry," Karen replied breezily. "I planned this weeks ago, but I just forgot to ask you. Lillia just used Mary's measurements to make your dress – you're about the same size, right?"

"Excuse me," Jack interrupted. "It's not that I wouldn't absolutely love to be a bridesmaid – but though I _do _have an exceptionally good physique, I think Mary might be a tad smaller than me. And I refuse to walk down that aisle in an ill-fitting dress. I have my pride."

Karen blinked at him. "You _do_ know that I have no sense of humor whatsoever when it comes to this wedding," she pointed out . Jack sighed and hung his head sadly. "You're _going_ to be a groomsman."

"So... is there a rehearsal, or anything?" Jill asked, puzzled. Karen nodded and flipped her notebook open again.

"Tonight, the 14th of Fall at exactly 1900 hours, all bridesmaids and groomsmen should be present at the inn for final fittings and several run-throughs. Answer your question?"

"Sir, yes Sir!" Jack called, receiving yet another glare from the plainly unamused Karen.

"Okay, I can and will injure you severely and blame it on wedding stress," she warned. "Watch it."

"Karen?" Rick said fearfully, sticking his head around the doorframe, "I just talked to Ann. There's, ah – a slight problem with the catering..." She instantly leapt into action, packing up her backpack once more and yelling something about incompetence as she raced out the door. Rick watched her go, then sighed and leant against a wall wearily.

"How are you feeling?" Jill asked sympathetically. He looked up, then away, obviously trying to look anywhere but at her.

"Sick. Tired. Overwhelmed," he muttered. "I'm in over my head, here... I'll feel better when it's all over."

"That's not the best attitude to go into a marriage with," Jack laughed. "I swear, it'll be worth it."

"I wouldn't go through with it if it weren't for how happy Karen is," Rick admitted. "But... you know, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. It scares me to death at the moment."

"Rick..." Jill said quietly, concerned. He stepped back and shook his head.

"I have to go. It'll be fine. See you at the rehearsal." He left, leaving the siblings alone and silent.

"He's freaking out," Jack whistled, shooting Jill a meaningful glance. "If he backs out, it'll kill Karen."

"He won't back out," Jill insisted. "Don't jinx it."

**xxx**

Veronica stood at the end of Mineral Pier, the sea wind blowing her red curls wildly. She smiled, her husband's arms wrapped around her waist, then sighed.

"What's wrong?" Tom murmured, his breath tickling her ear. She shrugged.

"It just doesn't seem like it's going to work. I mean, Jack's being civil... but until Jill caves and starts talking to us, there's no way he's going to sign the contract."

"If it doesn't work, and they don't forgive us," Tom said slowly, "We just tell him the truth about the whole thing. We'll explain the company profits we were getting from your Dad, and tell him we need him to sign the forms allowing it to continue."

"Yeah, that'll work a real treat," she snapped. "What? Like, 'oh Jack, Jill, screw all the stuff I told you about family being together. We're really here because we need Jack's money.' They'll just love that."

"You'd play the sympathy card," he said as he rolled his eyes. "Tell him we need the money to give Kayla a secure upbringing... that we're in real trouble, really stressed out..."

"But we're not really -"

"They don't know that!"

"He won't do it," Veronica groaned. "You don't know my brother, Tom. He and Jill are ten times closer than I ever was with either of them. He won't do it without her consent. And she'll want to get us back for what we did. Besides... I don't even know how I'd bring it up. Maybe coming here was a mistake."

"And what else were we supposed to do?" he asked. "We weren't expecting your Dad to die. We'll eventually need this money – what else can we do?"

"Well... we could get jobs," she suggested. He glared at her.

"_Or_, you could try talk Jack into it. It won't happen overnight – I know that, otherwise I wouldn't be staying in this damn place until winter, believe me. I think I can help out with getting us on Jill's good side again, too."

Veronica shot him a suspicious glance. "Oh? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Don't be stupid," he warned her. "We need to do what's necessary, you know? I think she'll forgive me easier than she'll forgive you. And if I can do anything to help the process hurry along... well."

"Yeah, but... I'm not even certain that Jack's signed anything to take over the company, yet."

"You don't honestly think he's going to choose to slave away here, rather than take it?"

"He... he seems to really love it here," she tried to explain. "He's more sentimental than people think. And basically, if he doesn't take the company..."

"We're pretty much screwed," Tom finished wryly. "Great. So now... we need to first persuade him to take it... then, if he does, we have to talk him into helping us out and signing the allowance contract..."

"It sucks that they didn't just offer the company to me," she said, her glossy lips pouting. "I'd be good at running a business, we'd definitely have no financial troubles, and Jack and Jill could go on living in their stupid country town, not causing us all this trouble." Her husband was silent, and she waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

"Shh," he scolded aggressively. "I'm trying to think." He took a few more moments, before his eyes lit up. "Hey... if the company doesn't go to Jack... who's the next in line for it?"

"Probably Jill," Veronica exhaled. "She's the second oldest."

"But if Jack doesn't take it, she certainly won't," Tom said slowly. "Which means... the next in line would be..."

"Me," the red-head supplied, catching on. "So... if we can talk Jack out of the company all together – we'll get it! Why didn't we think of this?" Almost crying with relief and excitement, Veronica span around and threw her arms around Tom. He leaned down and kissed her lightly, smirking and looking satisfied with himself.

"But talking him out of it could take even longer," she added as an afterthought. "I mean... we have to realise all the things here that would make him stay. You know, if he has a girlfriend – which he probably does – and if Jill wanted to stay in this little town, he might not leave her... ugh. It's just so much effort."

"These things take time. We've payed for the damn hotel until mid-winter, we may as well stay. Do a thorough job, right?"

"... I _love _you," she grinned. "I swear, I'd just fall apart without you here, helping me out."

"Love you too," he told her with a half-smile.

They stared out at the ocean, their minds working seperately, yet together. While Veronica pondered how they could find something in Mineral Town that would pull at Jack's heartstrings enough to keep him there, Tom's thoughts were primarily directed towards Jill. She could be a helpful key in making Jack stay, if they could get her to begin trusting them again.

Just flirting with her wouldn't work at all. She obviously didn't trust him, and if he straight away started playing up to her, she'd knock him back and the whole thing would be pointless. He knew her well; better than most, and knew that she valued sincerity. She was an easy person to become friends with... and if he _started out_ trying to be her friend... who knew the extent of what she would agree to?

"It's getting late," his wife's voice pointed out, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm cold. Can we go? I don't see why we need to come out here every night, and can't just discuss it at the inn." He cringed at her spoilt tone, and gave her the evil eye.

"I'm sure," he said silkily, "That were it up to you, we'd discuss it in plain hearing of everyone in this town. Do you really want your little waitress friend spilling everything to Jack?"

Resigned, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, no, but –"

"If you spent a little less time arguing with me, and a little more time thinking, there wouldn't be a problem."

"I'm not Jill," she pointed out angrily. "I'm not just going to sit back passively and meekly nod along with your decisions. I love you, but I'm not the dumb blonde my sister is."

"Sometimes I preferred her," he muttered under his breath as Veronica flounced off in the direction of Rose Square.

**xxx**

"Okay," Karen said seriously, staring at the eight people in front of her. "You all know why you're here. Ann. Jill. Gray. Jack. Mary. Popuri. Cliff. Tim. I'd like to throw a special mention to Jill, who filled in at the last minute due to Elli being sick with the flu."

"Excuse me?" Jill asked, outraged. Karen blanched, then hurried on.

"I want everyone to pair up, every groomsman with a bridesmaid to walk down the aisle." Jill and Gray took hands immediately, Cliff nudged Ann lightly. Jack shot a glance at Mary, who nodded, and Popuri seemed to catch a sudden and frankly, alarming fit of girlish giggles when she realised that she was left with Tim. Karen was speaking something in an undertone to Rick, and she smiled when she turned around. "Can you all stand up, please?" They did so, and she moved through them, examining the couples closely.

"I feel like I'm at school, waiting outside the office in trouble for something," Jack whispered to Mary quietly. He paused, then grinned. "Karen'd be a hot head-mistress, though. I'd get myself in trouble every day." Jill turned around angrily and smacked his arm.

"Do not objectify women," she scolded. Then she smiled. "Gray wouldn't dream of doing that, would you?" The blacksmith shook his head meekly, but as soon as Jill turned her head he stuck his hand behind him for a high-five from Jack.

"No, no, no!" Karen yelled suddenly, throwing her notebook to the ground. "This is all wrong! You couples look TERRIBLE together!"

"Thanks," Jill and Gray replied dryly. Unaffected, Karen stomped over and yanked the men and women away from each-other.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! Am I the only one with ANY artistic sense? Let me see..." she held one hand to her chin, then nodded. "Right. Gray and Mary are the cutest couple by far." Jack winced, and noticed Mary's face go pale. Gray was blushing lightly as Karen pushed him over to Mary.

"Now, Jill – go next to Tim." The blonde did so, but almost immediately, Karen shook her head. "No way. Stand between Jack and Cliff." Rolling her eyes, Jill obeyed her and Karen walked over, tilting her head in consideration. "Cliff," she said, nodding. "Jill and Cliff."

"Me, me!" Jack called eagerly. "Pick my partner!" He glanced over the room and waggled his eyebrows at Ann, who glared and made a warning sign at him.

"Ann and Tim," Karen said adamantly. Crossing his arms, Jack pouted while Popuri gave a tiny squeal and clapped her hands together. "Okay, sit down, everyone." They hurried to find seats. "With Popuri as my maid of honour, and Jack as Rick's best man, I –"

Jack interrupted, making Karen glare at him. "Best man?" he asked, looking thrilled but wary at the same time. "No-one ever mentioned anything about being a best man to me..."

"Yes, well, I only decided a few minutes ago," she exhaled. "I'm sorry to the other men, but Rick couldn't choose, so I decided to go with the most handsome –" Jack sat up a bit straighter and smirked, while cries of outrage echoed from around the table.

"What about Tim?" Popuri protested, making the serious doctor blush a deep red.

"Yeah," Jill agreed, placing a hand over Gray's. "Gray's much cuter!" she faltered as her brother shot her a hurt, incredulous look, and she realised what she had said. "I... I mean... dropped something..." She ducked under the table to avoid their accusing glances.

"Quit arguing," Karen yelled, banging on the table. "This is not a matter of who is cuter than who! I mean, it is," she winked at Jack and Rick crossed his arms in protest, "But I'm not listening to any more. Jack is the best man, and that's that." She flipped her hair back, and began in a much softer tone. "I'd like to begin running through the actual ceremony now, if –" she heaved an impatient sigh as the front door opened, as if the unfortunate opener meant to deliberately inconvenience her.

When Tom and Veronica walked in, the reactions were widely varied; Ann made a dash to the kitchen, Jack buried his head in his hands, Mary looked worried, Tim, Rick, Karen and Popuri looked indifferent. Jill bit her lip and looked at her hands, and Gray – seeing Tom for the first time – clenched his hands into fists and looked as if he would very much like to badly injure something or _someone_.

"Hey," Karen said, walking over with a smile. "Are you guys tourists?" They hesitated.

"We're on holiday," Veronica said, returning the smile. "For a season or so."

"Really?" she asked, obviously wanting to be a hospitable neighbour. "What's your name?"

"I'm Veronica," she replied, "And this is my husband Tom." It was at this moment that Rick became clued in to the situation, his jaw dropping as he shot a glance at the extremely pale Jill.

"Husband? Wow – that's a huge coincidence, because I'm getting married tomorrow!" Karen announced excitedly. Carrying it even further, she gasped. "Why don't you two come along? It's at the church, 10am."

Veronica glanced at Tom, who shrugged and nodded. She grinned. "Sure, we'd love to." Jill slumped a little further down into her seat, and Gray's teeth clenched. To Jack's horror, instead of retreating upstairs, Veronica and Tom made their way to a table in the corner of the room and launched into conversation.

"Anyway," Karen continued as Ann returned, "We need the guys to try on their suits, and the girls to try on their dresses... I went with lilac dresses, by the way," she told Ann. "Obviously, Rick and I can't try on our clothes and see each-other – we don't need bad luck now, of all times." She laughed to herself for a few moments, then abruptly stopped and scowled. "What are you waiting for? Go get dressed! Hair, makeup – _not _for the boys obviously, Jack," she exhaled as he opened his mouth to make a joke. They all scattered.

The boys returned a good half-hour before the girls did, and waited very restlessly and impatiently, as Karen wouldn't let them sit down in their black tuxedos. (Jack learnt the hard way.) They spent their time productively, doing things such as starting blankly ahead, shuffling their feet, and shooting glances at the beautiful Veronica, much to Jack's disgust. Gray also seemed oblivious to her good looks – but that was possibly because of the violent tendencies he got when he looked anywhere near the man next to her.

"Are you girls almost ready?" Karen asked, walking in the room. She brought her hand to her chest and gasped. "You _guys_! You all look incredible! You know, some people would think that it was impossible to find a colour that would match the hair and skin tone of all of you, but I did it! Well done, me. Yay!" She did a funny little skip over to the four of them. "Popuri and Jill, lovely. Mary and Ann... take your hair out." They obeyed, Ann seeming disgruntled about it. "And – Mary, take off your glasses."

"My sight is very poor without them," she pleaded. "Can't I just keep them on?" Karen raised an eyebrow, and she hurriedly took them off. The brunette took a step back and smiled.

"Gosh, you're stunning," she said enviously. "You should wear your hair out all the time. And you need to get contacts."

"I have some at home," she replied quietly, "I just hate wearing them."

"Well you're gonna. If you don't, I'll just break your glasses and you'll be blind."

"Umm... thank you," she replied unsurely.

"All right. Here we go." She held open the door to Ann's room, then led them towards the main area of the inn, where the men were waiting. "Eat your heart out, boys," she called with a twinkle in her eye.

Popuri bounced out first, looking adorable as she did a twirl and curtseyed playfully. Ann followed, refusing to do anything but stare at the ground, feeling uncomfortable and on show in the thin dress. Jill stepped out with a pretty smile – making Gray's heart stop, and, funnily enough, though she didn't notice – capturing Tom's attention. And finally, Mary walked out shyly with Karen, receiving slight gasps and low murmurs. The difference without her braid and glasses was incredible – she looked...

_Beautiful_, Jack thought, finding himself speechless; though he couldn't for the life of him fathom why. He'd grown up with sisters widely speculated as two of the most stunning girls in the city – Veronica especially – heck, he'd _dated _gorgeous girls throughout high school. So why, then, was he finding that he couldn't breathe just _looking_ at Mary?

It was because it was such a change, he told himself firmly. Because he'd never seen the straight-forward librarian dressed up like that before. It was just a shock, and – well, sometimes a real shock could leave your heart racing.

He stole a glance at Gray and Tim, who both seemed completely astounded. There – he wasn't the only one. Cliff and Rick weren't looking at Mary, and he didn't bother to check who they _were_ looking at.

Tripping on the hem of her skirt, Jill quickly glanced up to see if anyone had witnessed any of that particular embarrassing moment. To her relief, most eyes were on Mary – who, she had to admit, looked absolutely amazing – but in her quick examination, she locked eyes with Rick, who she could tell had been watching her for quite some time. She shot him a puzzled glance and he quickly turned away.

"Okay," Karen called, clapping her hands together. "Let's just see the partners together. Go on, get in line – Tim and Ann, then Gray and Mary, then Jill and Cliff, then Jack and Popuri." Everyone except for Mary quickly moved into line, and Karen's face became dangerous as she scolded the dark-haired girl.

"Mary! Why aren't you standing with Gray?" she asked sharply. Mary crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

"You took away my glasses and now... well..." she hesitated, before finishing quietly. "Now I can't tell which one Gray is."

"... Oh. Well, go and lead her over, Gray!" Karen yelled, turning her wrath onto him. "Jeez, what do I need to do to get some co-operation?" The blacksmith slowly approached her, reaching out, taking her hand and slowly leading her over to their place in the line. Mary looked terrified knowing that Gray was holding her hand, while Jill frowned at the both of them.

"That looks great, guys," Karen told them approvingly. "Now I want everyone to go home and get straight to sleep. Nine hours at least – don't forget, I need you there at 0800 hours tomorrow to help me get ready. Hopefully," she shot Rick a meaningful glance, "This will be my _only_ wedding day. Please, please don't screw it up for me." With those cheerful words of farewell, she began packing up. Everyone moved back to get changed, and when they returned to the main part of the inn, Tom and Veronica were gone, probably in their room upstairs.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jill told Gray, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Coming, Jack?"

"In a few minutes. I'll see you at home," he promised. Slightly confused, she shrugged and left by herself. Jack approached Ann who was re-braiding her hair. "Leave it out," he told her. "It makes you look more girly."

"Exactly," she scowled, braiding even faster. "Mary," she called across the room, "How're you getting home?"

"I thought I'd swim there," she replied sarcastically as she walked over. "How do you think?"

"Do you want me to get Cliff or Gray to walk you?" the red-head offered. Jack interrupted.

"I'll walk you. I'm going home."

"Your house is in the opposite direction," Mary pointed out slowly. Jack shot her a look.

"Okay, I'm trying to be a gentleman – take it or leave it."

"I –" at that moment, Basil walked in, calling out to her. She turned around and rolled her eyes. "Never mind, my bodyguard's here. Thank you anyway, both of you."

"I feel bad for her," Ann murmured as she took a dish cloth and started wiping down the counter. "Her parents are ridiculously over-protective. I mean, they love her, but... she's twenty, twenty-one. She needs to get away from them, if you ask me."

"Away from them?" Jack asked in confusion. Ann nodded, unaware that her braid was already starting to fall out.

"Yeah. Hey, congratulations on getting the position of best man – cutest in Karen's eyes surely is an honour."

"Here," Jack offered, turning her around and beginning to fix her hair himself. Ann opened her mouth, but he cut her off defensively. "Two very appearance-obsessed sisters, all right? You just... learn things like this."

"I'm sure," she said sarcastically, obviously delighted with the embarrassing information she'd acquired. "So, Jill seemed all right with your sister watching. I mean, she tripped over herself but everyone pretended they didn't see that, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Jack chuckled. "She's... not okay with the fact that they're here... but Goddess, she's come along leaps and bounds in the last few days. Hasn't cried or anything. I'm proud of her."

"And if she does fall apart, at least you'll be able to keep her hair looking nice, right?"

"Ha. Ha." He scowled at the giggling waitress. "If I didn't take so much pride in my work, I'd just stop doing your hair right now."

Ann sighed and sat in silence until he finished, at which point she yawned, stretched, and turned to face him. "Well, I need to close up for the night."

"And the few minutes I told Jill I'd take has stretched into..." he checked his watch, "Half an hour."

"Okay. Well, see you at the wedding."

"Yep. 0800 hours on the dot... or the impending sense of death by angry bride."

**xxx**


	34. Chapter 34

**xxx**

The fifteenth of Fall, the day of Karen and Rick's wedding, dawned sooner than anyone had expected. The morning was clear and sunny; the best kind of weather that anybody could ask for on the most special day of their life. But as she prepared, a certain bride was not happy.

"Goddess! Would you look at these?" Nearing tears, Karen ran her hand through a head of shining, immaculate curls. "Ugh, they're disgusting. Look, Jill!"

"They look gorgeous," the blonde replied impatiently. "You need to sit down and take deep, calming breaths, because if you walk down the aisle stressing out, you'll –"

"Trip over my train, I know, I know," she sighed, wringing her hands. "I didn't want it so long, I _told _Mom, but –"

"Your train is fine, Karen!" Jill yelled. "I was going to say, you won't be able to enjoy this special day for what it is."

The four bridesmaids, Popuri, Ann, Jill and Mary, were helping Karen put together her final touches just half an hour before the ceremony. Karen's dress was simple but beautiful, made out of plain white silk with a long train and flowing veil. The groomsmen and Rick were getting ready in a different room, but Jack was sitting on a table in the girl's area just because Karen's freak-outs amused him to no end.

"Did you see the flowers on the way in?" she asked, Jill's words going straight over her head. "I'm awfully worried about the white roses, I don't think they compliment – oh no, where are the rings? FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODDESS, WHO HAS THE RINGS?"

"Jack has them, Karen," Ann told her, gritting her teeth. "Sit. Down."

Mary, standing a little bit away from all the chaos, noticed Jack's eyes widen in what could only be described as total horror. She walked over, frowning, as he urgently rummaged through his pockets and glanced from side to side.

"Jack?"

"Mary," he said slowly, his forehead creased with worry. "Have – have you ever had the feeling that you're about to die a slow, excruciatingly painful death?"

"What've you done now?" she sighed.

He bit his lip. "Um."

"What?"

"I've, uh... lost the rings?" he finished with a hopeful glance at Mary, as if she were about to pull them out of a top-hat along with a fluffy white rabbit. As it were, her mouth opened in shock and his face fell.

"You _what_?" she exclaimed, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Jack made a hurried 'shut up' motion and placed a hand on her arm, giving her a fake, reassuring smile.

"That's very, very good, Mary." He grinned around at the rest of the room. "We're doing a dramatic reading from one of her books. Wasn't she convincing?"

"... Jack, you're so weird," Jill scoffed as everyone turned back to their respective jobs. Mary was just opening and closing her mouth in shock, apparently unable to say a word.

"You – you – you – you – Jack!"

"I know," he winced.

"Well... well, you have to tell Karen!"

"I can't, I can't," he whispered. "You tell her that _you_ lost them."

"Jack Evans, you're just – this is something straight out of a soap opera."

"Shh," he begged. "Mary?"

"What?"

"How obvious do you think it would be if the best man bailed out a window halfway through the ceremony?"

"Goddess, you –"

"OH NO!" Karen shrieked suddenly, sitting down abruptly and burying her face in her hands, obviously almost crying. "No, no, no!"

"Karen?" Popuri, Ann and Jill asked in unison.

"It's all over! It's all over!"

"For Heaven's sake, what's wrong this time?" Ann snapped. Karen simply shook her head, rocking back and forth and whimpering. Trying to take the more gentle approach, Popuri kneeled down beside her.

"Karen, sweetie? As your future sister-in-law, I really think you should tell me."

"You're not going to be my sister-in-law, 'cause there's not gonna be a wedding, Popuri! I just know that this... terrible, horrible thing..."

"KAREN!" Ann and Jill exploded together.

"Rick doesn't know how to do his tie properly," she half-sobbed. "Oh, this is awful..."

"Karen, I'll go do it," Jill sighed. "I did Jack's school tie for him every single morning for six years. He still can't do his own." Jack frowned at her, and Karen practically leapt on her in gratitude.

"Oh! Thank you so much! You've saved my marriage, Jill, I... I'm just..."

"Riiiiight," Jill nodded, backing away. She hurried along a hallway, until she stopped outside the room the boys were meant to be getting ready in. She slowly pushed the door open and raised an eyebrow seeing only Rick, staring straight ahead and gripping the sides of his chair, his face paler than usual.

She watched him in silence for a few moments, before shaking her head from side to side and stepping out in front of him cheerfully. "Hi!"

"Gah!" Rick exclaimed, bringing a hand to his chest and leaping out of his chair. Jill giggled and he exhaled, slowly sitting back down. "You... nearly killed me. Why are you here?"

"Karen wanted me to fix your tie – and now I can see why," she laughed. She stepped over towards him and began fixing the half-knot, apparently oblivious to their extreme closeness as she did so. It was apparent that Rick, on the other hand, _had_ noticed – his face whitened and he squirmed uncomfortably, trying to pull away. "Um..."

"Stand still. Come closer, I can't do it properly with you standing a metre away. It's only me, Rick!"

"That's the point," he mumbled.

"Hmm?" Jill asked distractedly, taking care to make the tie completely even.

"Nothing."

"There!" she pronounced, stepping away and not noticing his sigh of relief. "Oh, Rick." She winked playfully. "You look extremely handsome. Karen's a lucky girl."

He blushed and sat down again, fiddling with a button on his cuff. "Do you need anything else?" Jill asked, sitting opposite him and crossing her legs.

"Umm..." Rick said slowly, his hesitation turning into a long, extremely awkward silence. The blonde frowned at him.

"Are you okay? You seem... really, really out of sorts."

He paused, groaned, and shook his head. "I can't believe that in a few minutes, I'm going to be married."

She smiled, relieved. "Don't be so worried. It's going to be fantastic." He scoffed disbelievingly, causing Jill to tilt her head in confusion. "Rick, do... do you not _want _to get married?"

"At all? Or... to Karen?"

"Well... to Karen, obviously," she said, her heart speeding up. Rick shrugged and walked over to the window.

"She's not my first choice," he muttered, "But I have to do it."

"Not your first choice?" Jill asked incredulously, following him. "Who else is there?" He turned on his heel and shot her a look. Her jaw dropped.

"Rick," she said after a few intensely awkward moments. "If you don't want to do this, you know you don't have to."

"I - you don't understand," he muttered, holding a hand to his face. "A part of me - a big part of me - _wants_ to marry Karen. I've got Mom and Popuri to think about - it'd break their hearts if I backed out - and Karen... she's my best friend."

"But is that all she is?" Jill pressed gently, "Or are you in love with her?" Rick bit his lip and didn't answer the question, staring stonily at the door. "Do you still love _me_?"

He gave a hollow laugh and shot Jill a quick glance. "What do you think, Jill? It's not going to change a thing. You still have Gray, and I still have to marry Karen."

"Goddess," she mumbled, running one hand through her blonde hair. "It's been so long. It's been a year! You still...?"

He turned his head fully and looked her straight in the eyes. "Always, Jill," he said with a wry laugh. "You know that."

"But –"

"Don't do this now," he pleaded. "Goddess, if there's one thing that could make me change my mind... when I really, really can't afford to change it... it's you. So please, Jill..."

"Just let me say one thing," she said quickly. Rick pushed his hair out of his eyes and leant back against the wall silently. "I – don't see you as more than a friend, and you know that. There's nothing I want more than for you to find someone for you like... like Gray is for me. But Rick..." she bit her lip. "Don't make the mistake of marrying someone you don't really, really love. This is your choice; not Karen's, not mine, not your mom's or Popuri's."

"I know what you're saying," he assured her sadly. "I just think... look, no matter what, I'm going to have a broken heart. But if I marry Karen, at least it'll only be one of us who's heartbroken. She's my best friend – I really love her as that, at least – and there's nothing in the world that would make me throw this kind of pain on her."

"But –"

"Rick...?" a hesitant knocking sounded at the door, and Jack stuck his head in. "Ready, mate?"

"Give me a minute," he exhaled. Jack nodded and quickly retreated.

Jill gave a wavering smile and looked at the ground. "I'm just... sorry it had to happen like this," she whispered. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I'll never be sorry for loving you," he said firmly as he got to his feet. "This is the best way things could have turned out – for everyone. I just hope Gray knows how lucky he is. You're amazing, Jill."

"Rick," Jack said, running back in breathlessly. "We really need to get going. Karen's freaking out – she thinks you're having second thoughts."

"All right," he nodded, standing up tall. "I'm ready." His eyes snapped back to Jill for a final time, her face drawn and pale. He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something to her, but shook his head and walked out the large double doors, tall and proud to join Carter at the front of the church.

Jack shot Jill a concerned glance, then held out a hand to her. She took it and they hurriedly raced back to where the rest of the wedding party were waiting with Karen.

"How's his tie?" she whispered urgently. Jill avoided her eyes, and gave a thumbs-up. The pretty brunette didn't seem to notice her hesitation, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you see the crowd?"

"Everyone showed up," Jack nodded. "I doubt the church has ever been so packed. Of course, the bride must be the main attraction."

"You charmer," Karen said, blushing. "Maybe I married the wrong guy."

"You haven't married him yet," Jack replied with a wink. Ann whacked him on the arm, making him wince and scowl at her.

"Quit hitting on the bride! What the heck kind of best man are you?"

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but was cut of by the sound of the bridal march starting up. Karen gasped and clutched her father's arm, her cheeks colouring as the couples made their way up the aisle in front of her. Ann and Tim, Gray and Mary, Cliff and Jill, Jack and Popuri... then finally, Karen with Jeff.

A soft, general murmur broke out amongst the crowd in admiration of her beauty. Under normal circumstances, Karen was gorgeous... but she glowed as she made her way down the aisle, so much so that nobody could tear their eyes away. If they had, they would've seen two people not looking quite as they should... Rick, standing at the front of the church with his eyes shut, praying for strength, and Jill shooting him frequent worried glances.

"We are gathered here today," Carter began with a smile, "To join this man... and this woman... in holy matrimony." Karen blushed and shot Rick a look from under lowered eyelashes. He was holding both her hands in his own – hers shook, while his were surprisingly steady – but he wouldn't look her in the eyes, instead staring ahead almost numbly.

Mary sighed inwardly as she watched Jack, rummaging urgently through his pockets and fidgetting. He glanced up and shot Mary a look of terror, then shot a desperate look at the half open window.

"Don't you dare," the librarian mouthed silently, making him frown and run one hand through his hair. Mary's eyes widened and she had to refrain from walking across the room and smacking him, as she noticed a flash of gold on his finger. She hurriedly pointed to her own hand, making Jack look at his, and delight spread across his face.

"- And if anyone can think of a reason why these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever –"

"Thank the Goddess," Jack said loudly, making every single person in the room look at him. His face whitened and he grinned sheepishly. "That... the wedding is going smoothly so far. Keep it up, guys."

Carter, Rick and Karen were all staring at him in astonishment still, and he rolled his eyes. "Hold your peace..." he prompted. The priest cleared his throat.

"Or forever hold your peace." A few moments of silence followed, before Carter smiled and Karen exhaled loudly. "Now we'll have the vows. Karen?"

Popuri handed her a set of notes, and the brunette cleared her throat, giving Rick a nervous smile. "R-Rick... I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world, to be given the opportunity to fall in love with, and marry my best friend." She paused, and took a shaky breath. "You've been beside me, holding my hand through everything since we were just kids. And now... you've grown up into the most kind, amazing man... " her voice cracked and she brought a hand up to her eyes as a tear spilled over. "I'm never going to feel like I deserve you. I've made... so many mistakes... but you're standing up here with me today, despite it all. You're my whole world. When you're with me, I feel like I can tackle anything and everything that comes my way. I love you, Rick. I always will." She shook her head as more tears streamed down her face, yet she smiled through them. Rick had tears in his eyes as well – but they were tears of sadness, rather than happiness.

"Rick?" Carter pressed. Jack held out Rick's notes, but the bespectacled man barely glanced at them.

"You're my best friend, Karen," he said in a voice so quiet, half the people in the room had to strain to hear it. "There's really not all that much I can say, when it comes to how I feel about you. You're so special to me. I never, ever want to hurt you or see someone else hurt you – and that's the Goddess honest truth. You have no idea... the things I'd give up for you..." he closed his eyes briefly, "And what having a friend like you means to me. You're so beautiful. I..." He sighed, finishing softly, and Karen gave him a brilliant, yet tearful smile.

"Karen," Carter said gently with a reassuring smile, "Do you take Rick as your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, 'till death part you?"

"Of course I do," she laughed.

"Rick," he said, turning to him. "Do you take Karen as your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, until death part you?"

His eyes flickered to meet Jill's for a split second and she watched him carefully, her heart thumping painfully fast.

"I do."

A feeling of relief, mixed with anxiety overwhelmed her. In total honesty, she hadn't expected him to follow through. She hadn't thought that he'd really, truly marry Karen. She hadn't thought he'd do it. Goddess... if what he'd just done wasn't an act of complete courage and unselfishness, she didn't know what was.

"The rings?" Carter asked, and Jack stepped forward triumphantly. "By the power vested in me through the Harvest Goddess, I now pronounce you... husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Rick half-smiled and pecked Karen on the lips lightly, his hands finally really shaking. A crowd of excited well-wishers descended on the newly-weds, Manna, Sasha and Anna leading the pack.

"I want to see all of you at the inn for the reception!" Karen called loudly, a huge grin on her face. She threw her arms around Rick's neck, kissing him full on the lips, and he actually gave a genuine smile when she pulled away.

**xxx**

"To the bride and groom," Popuri called, a bright smile on her face as she finished her toast. The entire population of Mineral Town lifted their glasses, and a cheer went up as music began to play.

Karen and Rick had already had their first dance as husband and wife, so the dance floor was left to everybody else.

For the most part, people were shuffling their feet and awkwardly standing around the sides of the area, too shy to actually start dancing. Naturally, it was Jack who unashamedly grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her right into the middle, launching into his own daggy little 'Jack moment' as Jill simply shook her head in complete embarrassment.

Ann was dying of hysterical laughter from behind the bar, calling out to him encouragingly through her helpless fits. It didn't take long for Popuri to run over and join in, flicking her pink hair around as she bounced to the music. Jack grinned, took her hand and span her around, before Karen pulled Rick along and joined the both of them.

"That is not my brother. That is not my brother. That is not my brother," Jill chanted to herself rhythmically, closing her eyes as she raced off the dance floor. She could only watch in horror as more and more people began to dance, being drawn in by Jack's complete lack of modesty. "Ann!" she yelled, as the red haired girl approached the floor.

"What?" she called back, barely audible above the music.

"Don't encourage him!"

Ann just shrugged at her and let Basil twirl her under his arm, making Jill run one hand down her face and groan.

"He was always like this, wasn't he?" a chuckling male voice said from behind her. "No shame, your brother." Jill turned slowly and bit her lip, feeling an all-too-familiar jolt as Tom watched her.

"He... he just sets out to embarrass me," she replied.

"I'll say. Veronica's over there trying to drown herself in her glass of water."

"Water," Jill repeated slowly. "She never drank alcohol, did she?"

"Just like you," he said quietly. "I respected – respect – you both for that. Goodness knows that I could never do it." Despite herself, the blonde gave him a tiny smile.

"I remember. You never seemed to get drunk, no matter how much you had."

"You wouldn't remember," he teased. "You never came out to parties with me."

"That was –" she began to protest, laughing, before catching a glimpse of Gray across the room, talking to Cliff. She felt a twinge of guilt. What was she doing? "Never mind. I have to go talk to someone." She made a hurried escape, leaving the dark haired man frowning.

"I need to stop for awhile," Jack called to Popuri over the music. "I'm going to go get a drink."

"Okay," she yelled back, moving along and finding another man to dance with.

Exhausted, Jack walked over to a vacated table and sat down heavily, taking deep breaths. His disco skills certainly weren't what they used to be... heh. Who was he kidding? He was the Disco King himself! He noticed Mary sitting one table away from him by herself, a tiny smile on her face as she watched the dancers.

"Mary," he called, waving her over.

"Lovely dancing," she observed with a grin as she sat down opposite him.

"I noticed that you didn't get up and join in," he said, looking offended. "Almost everyone else did."

"I was scared to dance up there while you were. I didn't want to make a fool of myself in comparison."

"Yeah..." he agreed thoughtfully, "I see. But I like to think that rather than making people look worse in comparison, I bring them up to my level." Mary just smiled, and he tilted his head at her. "What's occupying _your _thoughts, Miss?"

"At the moment, I'm wondering why on earth you just called me 'Miss'," she teased. "The formal tuxedo's getting to your head."

"I like it," he mumbled, hurt. "It makes me feel like a spy or something."

"Okay," she said slowly, reaching over and patting him on the head patronizingly.

"I love the dresses that Karen picked out for the bridesmaids," he continued as he nodded to Mary. "They're very flattering."

"On most of us," she muttered quietly.

"Except for..." he prompted curiously.

"Me," she laughed before shrugging. "But no matter. I can blame Karen's beauty for myself being plain in comparison."

"Don't be an idiot, Mary," Jack warned. "You look stunning, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

The usually unfazed librarian blushed a deep red and suddenly took a great interest in her hands, as she stared at them determinedly. Jack watched her for a few moments, a tiny smirk on his face. "Contact lenses?"

"Yes," she laughed, some of the colour subsiding. "It's the strangest thing. I keep reaching up to adjust my glasses, and panicking when they aren't there."

"Which goes to show the extent of your intelligence."

"Oh, yeah, okay," Mary scoffed, narrowing her eyes. "So remind me again about that whole story with you losing the wedding rings?"

"Cheap shot."

"Admit it, Jack. I saved your life this morning."

"I wouldn't say... _saved _my life," he stuttered. "I could've... could've... run away. And lived out the rest of my life as a fugitive in a far away country."

"No, Karen would have tracked you down if you'd ruined her wedding." She shuddered. "It's horrible even to imagine what she would have done to you."

"Fine. Thank you for helping me find them."

"And you're welcome. But why on earth did you put them on your finger?"

The farmer shrugged. "Most logical place to put them. I mean, you hear ring, you think finger."

"Yet you still forgot."

"I –"

"Jack," Karen laughed, dancing over. "Come back and join in! You too, Mary. I want the whole town up dancing!"

"O-oh, I don't –" Mary began in embarrassment, shaking her head adamantly. "I don't think so. Dancing isn't one of my –"

"Okay, Karen," Jack replied with a smile, cutting Mary off. He held a hand out to the librarian and she blinked at him in utter disbelief.

"_What_ are you doing?"

"Come dance."

"Are you insane?"

"You can protest for as long as you like, but I'm going to make you dance with me eventually."

"Uh, no, you're not. I'm not a dancer."

"Anybody can be a dancer," he replied airily. She shook her head adamantly, and his face settled into a thoughtful smile.

"What are you thinking?" she asked suspiciously. "I don't like the look of that smile."

"I _will_ carry you up there. Those are your choices. I'll carry you, kicking and screaming in front of your friends and family up to the dance floor – or you can maintain some dignity and walk there, smiling politely as if you're thrilled out of your mind to be dancing with me."

"You wouldn't carry me," she scoffed. He raised an eyebrow and she paled, gripping the table tightly.

"Look," he said sadly, his mood changing. "I... I understand if you don't want to dance with me. I just want to see you enjoying yourself. I'll ask one of the other guys if they'll dance with you."

"Jack, it's not that I don't want to dance with you –"

"No, no, I understand," he cut in, his eyes downcast.

"I'm just not a very good dancer!"

"You don't need to make excuses, Mares. I'm a grownup."

"Don't," she begged. "You're making me feel bad."

"Don't feel bad... it's not your fault. I guess I'm just not the kind of guy you want to be seen dancing with."

"You know what?" she snapped, holding her hands up in exasperation. "Fine. I'll dance with you. Just stop... looking at me like that." The miserable look on his face was instantly replaced by a cheeky, triumphant grin, and she glared at his back while he pulled her to the middle of the dancefloor.

"You're just lucky it's a fast tune," Jack called to her. "Can you imagine how awkward it would be if I'd got you up for a really really slow –" he faltered mid-sentence as the upbeat song changed, as if on cue, to a sad and slow one. Mary folded her arms over her chest and glared at him in a 'you-don't-have-very-much-longer-to-live' kind of way. He sheepishly shrugged, then wrapped his arms around her waist as she tentatively clasped her hands behind his neck.

"So, uh... how about this crazy weather?" Jack began lamely, earning himself another glare.

"I don't know how you get me into situations like this," she replied, shaking her head slightly. "I mean, this morning... if I'd woken up and realised that this was going to be how I spent my evening, I don't think I would've got out of bed – oh, good Goddess."

"What?"

"Look at my mother." Mary ducked her head in embarrassment and Jack, interested, turned his head to see Anna grinning at the pair of them, absolutely thrilled.

"Aww. She looks happy."

"She _adores _you. I honestly don't know why."

"Pfft. Yeah, okay Mary. You're not attracted to me at all. It's SO obvious."

"I'm not!" she retorted immediately, cheeks burning. "Y-you're just... too self confident, if you think I am."

"Damn. And I was so sure it was mutual."

"What?"

"What?" Jack teased.

"Mutual? W-what mutual... mutual what? Jack!" He was cracking up laughing, and she narrowed her eyes. "Stop messing with my head."

"Sorry. I'll try to stop."

"You do that."

"I will."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mary."

"Stop talking all together." He obeyed, shooting her an amused glance, which she returned.

The same song was playing about one minute later – and talking between the pair had ceased for that whole period of time. Mary, who had been staring at a point over Jack's shoulder, looked up suddenly; at the exact same moment, Jack looked down.

What happened next and _how _it happened was mostly a blur for both, but a few seconds later, Mary became _very _aware of exactly how close Jack's face was to her own. He gave her a tiny smile and brought his hand up to her cheek, and she absent-mindedly rose onto her tiptoes. He kissed her, so lightly that you could barely –

"Jack!" Ann's voice called cheerfully, making both of them jerk away from each-other hurriedly.

"A-Ann," he stuttered uncharacteristically. "Um, hey."

"Can I cut in?" she smiled. "You don't mind, do you Mary?"

The librarian meekly shook her head, her red face hidden by a sheet of dark hair. "I have to... go," she said softly, turning on her heel and walking towards the front door of the inn quickly. Jack blinked after her, then shook his head and turned to a grinning Ann.

"You two could've kept dancing for the rest of this song. I just wanted to make sure that I could get you for the next fast one. I reckon that my dance skills could challenge your own."

"Oh," Jack scoffed, shooting one final, confused look at the door as a fast song started up. "I'd like to see that happen."

**xxx**

"Jill?" Gray called, walking over to the blonde and kissing her cheek. "I've got a headache. I'm gonna go upstairs for awhile, okay?"

"But it's so much fun here!" she protested. He shook his head, and Jill sighed. "Okay. Feel better. I'll come up before I leave, okay?"

He waved vaguely behind him and headed towards the stairs. When he reached his room, he thankfully collapsed onto his bed and groaned, massaging his temples. He wasn't lying; he had an absolutely sickening headache.

He must have dozed off lightly, because he awoke at the sound of a quiet knocking on the door. He smiled, thinking that Jill had kept to her word and come to check on him.

Naturally, it was a shock when he opened the door to see a gorgeous red-head leaning against the frame.

"Hey," Veronica said cheerfully. "You're Gray, right? Jill's boyfriend?"

"Uh... yeah," he said slowly. "We talked a few days ago."

"Yeah, I thought so." He didn't reply, just giving her a questioning glance, and she laughed suddenly. "Oh, sorry. I just thought that I might take this opportunity to get to know my neighbours. I _am _here for over a season, after all. It's not too much of an intrusion is it?" Gray hesitated as she watched him closely through blue eyes, significantly darker than Jill's.

"Nah. Come in." He held the door open and she walked past him, taking in the details of the room.

"Oh, it's just like ours. You know, you'd think that a little creativity wouldn't go amiss. Whatever. Don't you have a roommate?"

"Yeah. Cliff. He's downstairs still."

She sighed and settled herself at the table, shooting him a playful smile.

"So. How did you meet Jill?"

"Um. Well, I _thought _that I met her about two years ago, outside my work. I remember she looked dead confused at the time – completely lost." He smiled to himself and shook his head. "But, uh, apparently I knew her before. You, too. I lived near your family when I lived in the city, years and years ago."

"Wow! Are you serious? And what are the odds, huh, a kind of... reunion in a place as small as this. Wow."

"I guess," he muttered, uncomfortable with her enthusiasm.

"So you lived in the city. Did you like it there? Compared to here, I mean. I'd imagine that sometimes it could get kind of tedious, being in the same place."

"It used to feel like that. But then Jill came along. Now there's no place I'd rather be."

Veronica smiled. "That's really sweet."

"Gray?" Jill's voice called from outside the door, making his heart stop momentarily. "How are you feeling?" She gently pushed the door open with a smile, which dropped immediately she saw Veronica. "What's she doing here?"

"She's, uh –"

"Just getting to know my neighbours, Jill," she breezed. "I should probably go see what Tom's up to. I'll talk to both of you later." She rushed out the door, and Jill stood with her arms crossed over her chest before turning to follow.

"Jill," Gray called desperately, following her and resting one hand on her shoulder. His other hand took her hand, and he led her back into the room. "Jill, I swear, that's all she wanted. She'd only –"

"It's fine," the blonde replied in a voice that indicated exactly how not fine it was.

"She'd only been here for a minute when you showed up."

"Oh. Well, sorry for ruining your fun," she mumbled. Gray's eyes narrowed at her words.

"Don't you dare imply something like that. I couldn't do that to you."

"Well I'm sorry if I'm a little paranoid, Gray," Jill said quietly. "This is just a tiny bit weird for me."

"But nothing happened!"

"Gray," she whispered incredulously, shaking her head. "I believe you. But... look, I've seen first hand the way Veronica gets guys. When we were younger, if there was a guy she wanted, she'd get him – regardless of whether or not he had a girlfriend. As her big sister, I should've stepped in and... _done _something about it. I see that now. But... I guess I never really bothered with it much until..." she trailed off and sniffed. "Until she did it to me."

"I –"

"You can see first-hand how bad it messed me up when Tom fell for her," Jill continued, gesturing to herself. "But Goddess, Gray, if she took _you _away from me... well." She stared at the ground, shaking her head as if to signify that there was nothing she could say. A long silence followed, before Gray broke it with a few soft-spoken words.

"You know how I feel about you. There isn't the smallest possibility that I could ever fall for anyone else, no matter who. I'm in love with you."

Biting her lip and blinking tears from her eyes, Jill walked over and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

Grimacing at her response, Gray took a step away from her. At her questioning look, he shrugged. "Headache. Really bad."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she exclaimed, covering her mouth with one hand. "I'll let you get some rest, then. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Backing out the door, Jill turned suddenly only to hit her sister with a muffled 'oof.' Straightening up, Veronica smiled at her.

"Haha. I remember how clumsy you always were."

"Yeah? Well, as we can see, some things never change," Jill spat, pushing her way past and down the stairs. Leaving the inn, she grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him towards their house.

"Temper," he warned. "What took you so long? You made me wait outside because you said you'd be ten seconds, but you ended up taking more like ten minutes."

"I hope you froze to death."

"What on earth did I do to deserve _you _as a sister? You sweet, loving, compassionate child, you."

"Somebody up there loves you."

"Plenty of people down here love me as well." He trailed off, then crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

"What?" Jill asked, rolling her eyes at his theatrics.

"Nothing," he replied defensively. "You just reminded me that I have to work out something."

"Like...?"

"Nothing."

She groaned in exasperation as she pushed open the door to their farmhouse, kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto her bed. Jack followed and flopped down beside her with a sigh.

"Something isn't right with you," he observed, staring at the ceiling.

"I don't want to talk about it. Something's bothering you, too."

"I don't want to talk about it either."

Jill laughed and turned to kiss her brother on the cheek, before pushing him onto the floor with a prominent thudding noise. "You have your own bed."

"I'll remember this," he glared bitterly. "Next time you want to... borrow my clothes, I'll tell you to wear your own."

"Why in the Goddess's name would I want to wear your clothes?"

Jack shrugged. "Because I'm... stylish?"

"Goodnight, Jack," she said adamantly, gathering her pyjamas and heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Goodnight," he said distractedly, walking into his own room and sitting down, deadly serious now that he was on his own.

Boy, did he have a lot to think about.

**xxx**


	35. Chapter 35

**xxx**

Gray stifled a yawn as he left the blacksmith's shop on Wednesday afternoon. His grandfather had asked him to go hiking at five o'clock that morning, and he'd worked from then until this minute. Not an easy task, especially considering that Gray was still angry with Saibara over telling Jill their family secrets. But Jill had begged him not to tell Saibara that he knew he'd told her anything, and he was doing his best to stick by his word.

He shook his head from side to side as he headed towards the inn, trying to wake himself up a little bit. His gaze fell on a pretty red-head at the end of the road, struggling with a heavy-looking cardboard box.

_Keep away from her_, his brain told him warningly. _You're only going to get yourself in trouble. She's doing just fine without your help. _He bit his lip as Veronica dropped the box and gave a small cry as groceries tumbled out in all directions. With a groan, he made his way over to where she was impatiently stacking them all back in.

"Oh, Gray!" she announced thankfully. "Thank the Goddess you're here. Are you heading back to the inn?"

"Yeah," he replied roughly.

"You wouldn't be able to help me with this, would you?"

"Of course," the blacksmith muttered as he easily lifted the box.

"Thank you so much," she exhaled, hurrying to walk beside his large strides. "I was struggling all the way from the supermarket. In the kitchen, if you don't mind."

"Sure." He pushed open the kitchen door and nodded to Doug, who was frying something that smelt delicious.

"My groceries for the week, Doug," Veronica said cheerfully. "I can leave them here, right?"

"Course you can, Miss Evans."

"Mrs. Smith," she corrected gently. "It's so boring," she confided to Gray. "You have no idea how many times I've wished Tom had a really fun, exotic last name. Mr and Mrs Tom and Veronica Smith," she drolled in a fake posh accent. She pushed the kitchen door open once more and turned to stare at Gray. "Thank you again, for carrying those. It's nice to see that chivalry isn't dead."

"No problem," he coughed.

"Hey, did you want to get a drink?" Veronica asked. His face paled, and she laughed. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not taking no for an answer, I need to repay you somehow."

"I'm really tired –"

"That's always the best time for a bit of a pick-me-up, isn't it?"

"I guess, but –"

"Anyway, I want to have a really good talk with you. You'd be one of the people closest to Jill, right? I'm sure you could tell me how she's managing. I –" she faltered. "I feel... slightly responsible for the state she's in, you know? I mean, I know... it isn't my fault... but I can't help feeling a little bad." Her face brightened suddenly. "And I could tell you all about what she was like growing up. Gosh, she was a great sister. Has she... told you much about her high school years?"

"Hardly anything," Gray replied truthfully.

"Oh? Well, that just means there's more for us to talk about. Waitress?" she took a seat at a corner table, gestured for Gray to take the other one, lifted one hand into the air and clicked impatiently. Ann made her way over in deliberate slow-motion, crossing her arms and snapping gum as she stared at the two of them.

"What?"

"I'll have a glass of sparkling water, and Gray will have..." she trailed off and looked at him quizically.

"Just regular water," he mumbled, uncomfortable under the glare Ann had fixed on him.

"That all?" the waitress asked, in a voice warning that that was all they were getting, anyway.

"I think so. And stop chewing gum while you're talking to me. I highly doubt that people working in the food industry are permitted to –"

"You want my gum ending up in your 'sparkly water'?" Ann threatened. Veronica crossed her arms and blinked at the indifferent girl in outrage.

"I'll have you know, I studied law –"

"I'll have you know that I've got access to all your food, and a wide variety of the grossest stuff imaginable. I don't put up with princesses." With that, Ann stormed off in the other direction, leaving Veronica red faced and flustered.

"W-well! I... I don't think..." she shook her head, regained her composure, then smiled. "So. Do you want me to tell you about Jill?"

"Yeah, okay," Gray nodded, still puzzled by Ann's behaviour.

"Well, growing up," she began, "She was my absolute hero." she laughed and rolled her eyes. "I went to her for every single crisis, from my first boyfriend, to girl troubles, to school issues. We're only a year apart in age, you know... but she always seemed so much older and... smarter, when it came to the things that counted. I couldn't have asked for a better sister. We were so close."

"Really?" Gray asked incredulously.

Veronica nodded. "My friends were always whining about _their _sisters, and how mean they were... but Jill was never like that. It was almost like -"

Ann slammed their drinks down violently, then walked off. Veronica ignored her.

"It was almost like, she didn't care if good things didn't happen to her; she was too thrilled when they happened to me."

"Like what?"

"Good marks at school. My cheerleading and singing. All the things that she... didn't do. I mean, cheerleading she could've done, and done well. But she never wanted to – I think it was because she didn't want to take my limelight, more than anything. She couldn't sing to save her life, though, that wasn't a matter of choice." Gray smirked, as Veronica giggled to herself.

"So what _did_ Jill do?"

The red head shrugged. "I wouldn't have a clue. She was a good little dancer, I know. But now... all I know is that now – here – she seems... different. I mean, don't get me wrong - Jill's always been beautiful, on the inside and the outside. She's the type of person that... well, she was the only one who listened politely and didn't try punching me when I rambled on about things like new boyfriends, or jokes that are completely unfunny unless you're there at the time. I wanted her to be my best friend... but Jack and Jill were too close for that. I was always on the outside."

She glanced down at her hands miserably, and for the slightest second, Gray felt a twinge of... pity? For her – the girl who had Jill so upset. But now, talking to her, she really didn't seem all that bad. She was certainly very sweet and complimentary when it came to Jill, and the easiest way to gain Gray's good opinion was to compliment the blonde.

"Are you two finished?" Ann asked impatiently, her hands on her hips as she stood in front of them once more. She gave Gray a particularly meaningful glare, making him stand up immediately.

"Uh, y-yeah, I have to get going. It was nice... talking to you."

"You too," Veronica said, tilting her head with a smile and resembling Jill remarkably for a few moments. "We should do this again sometime."

**xxx**

_What the hell was that at the reception last night? _Jack thought to himself as he sliced celery in his kitchen. Jill was lying on the couch, singing a cheesy pop song at the top of her lungs – badly – which really wasn't helping his analysis.

He asked Mary to dance. She refused. They argued. He threatened. She caved. They danced. They argued some more. And the next thing... he'd kissed her. Or she'd kissed him. Was it just his opinion, or did it sound like there should have been a few more steps between _arguing and kissing_?

"La la, too long to wait, something something something bait, heaven right here, la la la dear..."

"Shut up!" he yelled impatiently. Jill rolled over so she was looking at him, and scowled.

"Grumpy."

_Mary_, of all people. Not that she wasn't pretty or anything; she was... extremely attractive. Very intelligent, and stirring her temper was honestly so much fun, doing so had started to become the highlight of his days. But Goddess, she was so different to any girl he'd seen in a romantic light before.

No matter how much he tried to push the memory away, it wouldn't leave. The tiniest brush of his lips against hers; it could have even been accidental. Only... they both knew that it wasn't. And all that was left to figure out was why it had happened.

He wanted to go to the library. And read... and stuff.

He couldn't go to the library; not yet. It would still be too awkward to see her.

...But the longer he left it, the more awkward it would get. Besides, the library was a free service – anyone was welcome there. Not everyone went for the singular reason of visiting Mary. Today, he could just read, and tomorrow he might start a conversation, and eventually they could move past this tiny incident.

Hopefully.

"La la la, can't something something you are, when I –"

"Jill, I'm going into town."

She sighed. "You're such a baby. I'll stop. Look, I've stopped! Look! Look, Jack!" He glared at her, then stacked his half-done cooking to the side and walked out the front door. When he reached the library, he didn't let himself pause to hesitate or think it out some more, simply pushing the glass door open and striding in as he usually did.

"Jack!" Mary scolded, hurriedly gathering together all the sheets she'd been writing and shoving them into a drawer. "Don't barge in like that, I've told you a hundred – a thousand times!" He shrugged at her, and she faltered in her words. "I –"

"I need – a book?" he asked, almost as if he were questioning her. She hesitated, then gestured to the bookshelves surrounding every wall. "Oh," he laughed weakly. "Right."

"It –" she stood up and started pacing the room for no particular reason. "I mean, if, um. It depends on what kind of book you were looking for."

"I'll find something, I think..."

"Right. I need to fix something upstairs." She got out of his sight as quickly as possible, leaving him blinking at his own behaviour. What was he _doing_? He never got nervous! Not in situations like this, never! But he sure as hell wasn't getting tongue-tied and tripping over words because he was calm, that much was certain.

Grabbing a random book off a nearby shelf, he hurriedly sat down in a chair across the room from Mary's desk and began pretending to read.

Retreating back downstairs, the librarian settled back at her desk and resumed her writing, stealing glances at the dark-haired boy in the chair opposite. She muffled a laugh and decided not to point out that he was "reading" Fairytales For The Younger Girl upside down. It would be too funny when he realised on his own to ruin it now.

Jack glanced up, watching her for a few moments as she bit her lip, obviously confused over her writing. Almost immediately she looked up too, and both ducked their heads back down to what they were doing. After it happened a second time, then a third time, Jack simply placed his book down and began staring at her blatantly. She was obviously very aware of the fact that he was watching her, steadily blushing more and more until she snapped, slamming her pen down on the desk.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Jack asked with a triumphant smirk. She simply scowled at him.

"Enjoying your book?"

"Yes, I am. It's very interesting."

"Oh, really? Where are you up to?"

"Uh..." he trailed off, then picked up the book and hurriedly shot a glance at the front cover, before his face fell. "Hilarious, Mary."

She burst into giggles, and he couldn't help but smile. When she calmed down, a silence stretched out between them – though not quite so awkward as their original silence.

"Hey," he said slowly, his eyes settling on the calendar behind her. "I missed the Full Moon Festival."

"Good on you."

"No, I... how did I miss it? Oh..." he trailed off. "It was when Jill had her little breakdown." Mary's face became serious, and she shook her head.

"I, uh... went up to Mother's Hill to watch the moon rise, like I do every year, and your sister was up there with her husband. I'm so sorry, I keep forgetting her name... Victoria?"

He shrugged. "Close enough."

"Anyway, Victoria was -"

"Veronica."

Mary shot him a glare. "_Veronica _was saying some really intelligent things to her husband. You never mentioned that she was smart."

"And beautiful, too," Jack grimaced. Mary raised an eyebrow and shrugged, making him look at her in confusion. "You don't think so?"

"Well she's certainly very pretty. I wouldn't call her... I mean, honestly? I would say Jill outshines her."

"I... not many people would agree," Jack stuttered in amazement. "I mean, Jill's gorgeous, inside and out. But..." he settled back and sighed. "Veronica always got the attention for being the pretty one. The smart one. The talented one. Jill's never been the best or most anything, in my family. The poor girl deserved more attention than Veronica and I... but she never got it."

"It's strange... when she first came to Mineral Town... I mean, I wasn't fond of her at all, for... obvious reasons... but I was so sure that she would have been the golden child in her family. Now you're telling me it was the opposite."

"Obvious reasons?"

The librarian paused and glanced at him. "...Gray."

"Oh." Jack said slowly, frowning. "Right. By the way... are you all right? I mean, Karen forced you to go with him in the wedding..."

Mary raised an eyebrow. "She didn't force me. I made the choice to walk down the aisle with him."

"Ah," he hesitated. "Okay."

"But... to answer your question..." she trailed off, staring into the distance. "I'm... okay. I think I'm getting better. I think about him less. Being paired up with him at the wedding... it hurt, and I won't pretend that it didn't – but it almost seemed like it wasn't hurting as much as it should have. I don't really understand..." she trailed off and blushed as the farmer watched her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be rambling on like this –"

"Don't be. It's fantastic to hear that it's getting easier," Jack answered sincerely.

Mary shrugged and returned to her writing. The farmer watched her with a smile for a little longer. "Can I tell Jill?"

"Tell her what," she asked, feigning disinterest.

"That you think she's more beautiful than Veronica." Her dark head snapped up, and she fixed Jack with a confused – almost worried – look.

"Why would you need to?"

"I think it'd help her. A lot. When she was living at home, she had some pretty serious self-esteem problems, and now that Veronica's here... you can kind of see those old doubts starting to creep back."

Something like sadness settled into the librarian's eyes, as she glanced down at her hands. "Okay. If you want."

Temporarily satisfied, Jack settled back into his chair, content to stare at the ceiling for a few moments. When Mary finally looked up from her writing, she sighed heavily. "Jack... what on earth are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Bingo." They both smiled, looked away from each-other, then glanced back. Jack cleared his throat nervously. "Mary... about the... wedding..."

"Jack," she interrupted quickly, as if she'd been planning out what to say immediately when the situation arose. "Don't bother. I – you'd probably been drinking, and it was just a... lapse of judgement. We should probably just forget about it."

Deciding not to point out that he hadn't touched alcohol the night before, Jack nodded. "Sorry, though."

"W-well, don't say that –"

"Why not?" He had that damn infuriating smirk on his face again. Mary shot him a glare.

"Jack."

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "I'll stop. We've agreed that it was just... a lapse of judgement." She nodded, not meeting his eyes, and he grinned before continuing. "I mean, I'm sure you wouldn't have kissed me if you were thinking clearly –"

"What?" she scoffed, indignant. "Jack Evans, don't you dare turn this around on me. _You_ kissed _me_."

"I thought nothing happened?"

"You... you'd better believe nothing happened."

"But you kissed me. That's something."

Mary made a peculiar choking noise of exasperation and scowled at him. "Are you deliberately trying to stir me?"

"Yes, m'am."

"J-Jack!"

"Look," he exhaled, obviously doing all he could to keep a straight face. "We're not going to work this out, Mary. We're going to have to agree to disagree."

"I am _not_ agreeing to that! You admitted that you kissed me just a few minutes ago!"

"Mary, I think I'd remember."

"Why.. you... ah!" she exploded in frustration. That was the final straw for Jack, who collapsed into such helpless laughter that he fell off his chair. Biting her lip to hold back her own laughter, Mary simply half-glared at him as he cracked up on the floor.

"Okay. I'm done," he finally announced, minutes later. "I'll stop teasing."

"Thank you," she replied quietly, turning back to her writing. He took up staring at the ceiling again, not breaking his gaze for a moment, while the librarian kept shooting him frequent, annoyed glances. "Why would I kiss you?" she finally burst out.

Jack smirked, raising both eyebrows and flexing his arms. "Please. You'd be crazy not to."

"For the love of the Goddess," Mary muttered, resting her head in her hands.

**xxx**

"Talked to Karen or Rick?" Ann asked, hoisting herself up onto the table that Jill was sitting at. Jill glared.

"Get off my table, woman."

"Don't call me woman," the waitress said threateningly. Jill giggled and looked away.

"I haven't spoken to them. Why? Have you?"

"Karen," Ann said thoughtfully. "I talked to her just this morning. She's... so happy. At first I thought she wanted a wedding, not a marriage. But... now? I see her look at Rick, and there's just... so much love there. I know she wanted her wedding to be perfect – but I think she was so obsessive because she wanted it to be perfect for _him_." She looked away, and smiled. "It makes me so jealous. Seeing her and Rick... you and Gray... Tim and Elli... me and no-one." The smile dropped as she scowled at the floor.

"Come on, Ann," Jill sighed. "Don't be silly. What about Cliff? I thought you two were... in some kind of relationship..."

"He's backed off," Ann replied sadly. "I don't know what happened, but we're certainly not a couple. Maybe he's too shy, or something... I don't know. It's not exactly that I don't like him... I mean, I do... I guess. I honestly don't have a clue."

"Give the poor boy a chance, Ann," Jill said with a frown. "You know how shy he is."

"But he can't..." she trailed off.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Can't _what_, Ann?"

"He can't make me laugh," she blurted out. Jill looked taken-aback, and Ann shrugged, blushing. "That's just... so important to me."

"Maybe he has a wonderful sense of humour hidden under his... shyness?"

"I don't think so."

"Well... is there someone else, Ann?"

"No!" she said quickly, laughing a little. "Don't be an idiot."

"But –"

"Didn't you say that you needed to collect something from the clinic?" the red-head asked quickly, basically pushing Jill out the door.

"Yeah, but look at how hard it's started raining –"

"You're tough. Come on, it's like a thirty second walk to the clinic. I bet you could make it in fifteen seconds if you ran."

"Trying to get rid of me," she muttered resentfully. "Fine. I'm going." She stepped outside into the drenching rain, and exhaled loudly as thunder rumbled and the rain immediately began pouring down twice as hard as before. "I hate you, Ann!" she yelled back at the inn. Cliff stuck his head out of the upstairs window.

"What?" he called, looking confused. Jill just threw her hands up in exasperation and ran off through the rain, leaving poor Cliff with no idea what on earth he'd done wrong.

She raced to the door of the clinic, already completely drenched. There was a storm coming, she could tell. She had no problem with rain, but the idea of getting shocked by lightning wasn't her idea of a fun Wednesday.

Wednesday...

"Aw, dammit," she muttered, racing up to the clinic. "Be there, be there, be there..." she pounded on the door of the darkened building, to no avail. "Open up!" the building remained silent, and she glanced around frantically. Stupid Tim and Elli, deciding not to spend their one day off at work. Selfish, that's what it was.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she approached the church, which was always open. Fittingly, she thanked the Goddess and pushed her way through the heavy doors.

"Jill," Carter said, greeting her with a smile. "You haven't graced us with your presence here for quite some time."

"Uh... yeah, I... uh..." she rubbed the back of her neck and grinned nervously. "Life's been... pretty crazy..."

"Well, remember that you're welcome here any time you feel like. And if you wouldn't mind moving onto the wooden floor... you're drenching the carpet." He chuckled to himself, walked into a room out the back and threw two towels at her. "Shelter here for as long as you want. I'll be in the confessional, if you need me."

"Thanks," she muttered, rubbing her hair with one towel frantically. She gazed around the church as she dried, taking in the beautiful windows and paintings. "I really should come here more often," she said under her breath.

She jumped in shock as the church doors were pushed open forcefully and a dark haired man stormed in, soaking wet. He shook his head a few times, before his eyes landed on the would-be-farmer and he grinned.

"Jill."

"Tom," she replied after a long hesitation. She quickly crossed the church and sat down on a pew with her back to him, but it appeared that he had different ideas as he walked over and sat right next to her.

"That rain's ridiculous, huh?"

"Yeah," she agreed quietly.

"I don't think it rains this hard in the city. Maybe I don't notice as much because the city's all concrete, but this... this is something entirely different." He shot a glance at the blonde, who was determinedly staring straight ahead. "It started raining really suddenly," he continued, trying to make her talk back. "I'd been walking around town a bit, and it just started drizzling lightly... then all at once, just this massive downpour."

"I know."

"You were obviously outside when you got caught in it – I mean, you're drenched – so where were you?"

"Trying to get into the clinic," she mumbled. "I didn't realise it was closed today." The blonde glanced down at her hands, waiting for him to start laughing at her, but he didn't.

"I don't blame you. I've noticed it's a lot harder to keep track of the days here. You're hanging out anxiously for the weekend in the city, which keeps you in tune with which day it is." He impatiently shook his head again, spraying water everywhere. With a tiny smile, Jill held out one of her towels to him. He took it with a thankful grin.

"I appreciate it." She looked away again and he sighed, edging closer to her. "Although I know I don't deserve you to do a thing for me."

"Tom –"

"What I did," he cut in quickly, moving closer to her, "Was wrong. But I wish you hadn't run off. I wish you hadn't left things like this between us. I never meant to hurt you, Jill –"

"What a pathetic _line_," she spat. "Guess what, Tom? You did hurt me. I don't know what you're playing at – if you're trying to make yourself feel better, or what, but –" she sighed, her anger suddenly turning to sadness as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"You've got every right in the world to feel that way," he told her in an attempt at an understanding voice.

"I don't understand..." she said shakily. "I don't understand how this happened. I don't know... what I did wrong..."

"Nothing, sweetheart," he proclaimed instantly, brushing a strand of wet hair away from her face. "Goddess, nothing at all. I just... I got attached to Veronica, and there wasn't anything that could change my mind about it –"

"I have a boyfriend, Tom," she interrupted, tears flowing freely now. He frowned in confusion at her words. "I have a boyfriend who is... the most loving, wonderful guy on the planet. But I don't show him _nearly _as much love as he deserves. He means the world to me, but I can't –" she paused to inhale sharply. "I can't let go of you. It's like... I'm broken, and that _kills _me. That's what hurts me so much more than what you and Veronica did to me... the fact that I _can't_ get over it. I swear..." she held her head in her hands, eyes closed. "It feels like I never will."

"Jill," he murmured, taking her hand gently. "Come here." She shook her head, but he pulled her towards himself anyway and she didn't fight. When he wrapped his arms around her, she started shaking. "You know I still love you," he whispered. "There's no way I'm ever going to stop, considering all the history we have together. But I love Veronica as well. Not exactly _more_, but... in a different way."

"You love _her_," she mumbled into his shoulder, before pulling away and roughly wiping her eyes. "You just feel sorry for me. The pathetic ex-girlfriend."

"I think we both know that isn't true," he said seriously, tilting her face towards him. "I want – I need to be on speaking terms with you. I need to be friends again."

Jill was silent for a long, long time, her eyes closed gently. Just when Tom thought that maybe she'd fallen asleep or something, she opened them. "I don't think it's possible," she said simply. "I think the only two emotions I can feel when it comes to you are hate and love."

"What is it now?" he asked quietly, placing one hand on hers.

"Both," she replied without hesitation, pulling her hand away. He sighed and sat back. "I... I'm willing to try for friends. I just don't think it's going to work."

"Have dinner with me," Tom said immediately. "We can really talk... work everything out... okay?" Jill stood up.

"I don't know. I'm... so mad at you. You have no idea." She glanced out a window. "I think the rain's almost stopped... I should probably try to get home before it starts again. Goodness knows where Jack's being kept by the rain at the moment." Without another word Jill walked out, leaving their relationship on a delicate... but somewhat better note.

Tom watched after her with a soft smile until the door closed behind her, before the smile turned into a fully-fledged grin.

It was _way_ too easy. Give it a week and she'd be worshipping him like she had for years – willing to do anything he asked her without question. He had thought she'd put up a little more fight... but this... made everything so much more convenient. If she continued at this rate, she could and would make the company ridiculously easy for he and Veronica to gain. He inwardly congratulated himself.

Yes, he thought, smirking and heading towards the door. Everything was going to plan.

**xxx**

So, uh... yeah. -runs away from angry readers-

Let me know what you thought :)


	36. Chapter 36

**xxx**

By the twentieth of Fall, almost two weeks had passed since Tom and Veronica had shown up in Mineral Town. For the most part – to the surprise of Jack and Jill – their stay had been fairly uneventful.

Of course, Jill was incredibly uncomfortable with their presence, even now. It wasn't... it wasn't so much seeing the two of _them_ together anymore – she might not be okay with it, but she was... gradually becoming immune to the sight. And Tom seemed to be travelling under the radar as much as possible. It was mostly her sister that had her worried.

She knew that she could trust Gray, and that wasn't a problem to her. The real problem was that she knew darn well that she couldn't trust Veronica. If that girl wanted something, she would get it – and the worst part was that she had infinite patience. Veronica could wait for as long as she needed until she got something – even if she didn't really want it all that much. And basically, Jill had seen a few things in the recent weeks that had... got her more than just a little nervous.

It was nothing large – it was just the amount of times that she conveniently saw Veronica and Gray talking, laughing, walking together. There was always a truthful, reasonable explanation when she asked Gray about it... Veronica had asked for directions somewhere. Veronica needed help carrying something. Veronica was just sharing something amusing that she'd heard around town. No doubt _his_ motives were completely innocent. But once again, it wasn't Gray that she was worried about.

She'd talked to Jack about it, and he'd immediately discarded her worries as paranoid and illogical. 'Why would Veronica steal Gray?' 'Why would Gray let Veronica fool him?' 'You're just being a over-anxious.' So maybe she was. Maybe there was... nothing for her to worry about, but until Veronica and Tom left, she would never feel completely secure.

Jack... was growing somewhat... not 'comfortable', but used to the idea of Veronica, at least. Tom, he still refused to speak to – ironically, it was the opposite situation for Jill, who was tolerating Tom but not giving Veronica the time of day.

She _was _their sister, was Jack's reasoning. Family ties, blood's thicker than water, and what have you. Oh he was mad – really mad, for what they'd put Jill through – but he found it hard to stay so angry at the red-head now that he was seeing her daily.

The thing with Jill's predicament, was that it was... so much bigger than anything going on in his life, and it was a welcome distraction from his own issues.

Those being Mary.

He didn't... _know_ what was going on there. That kiss at the wedding wasn't an issue – it had barely meant a thing, in perspective. It was more what had happened since. What could he say? Nothing had _happened,_ happened, but there was something unspoken, and neither of them could deny it.

He sounded like a sappy, love-struck teenager when he said it – and realistically, that description couldn't be further from the truth – but she brought out a side of him that he wasn't used to at all. It wasn't a side that he was particularly fond of, either. He felt... comfortable and confident, which was normal. What wasn't normal was how subdued she could make him feel, with just one genuinely disappointed glance. It was slightly sickening, even – _never _in his life, not his mother, not girlfriends, had a woman had that much influence over his self-awareness. Jill had come close, at rare times... but definitely not to this extent.

Goddess, he really _did _sound like a love-struck teenager. Blah.

So, in a very strange way, he was glad that Veronica and Tom were here – dealing with them kept him from getting too lost in his own mind.

And... that was why he was waiting in the inn, to have lunch with his youngest sister. A situation that could easily turn bad – and probably couldn't result in a whole lot of good, either. Maybe if -

"Afternoon, Jack!" Veronica's sing-song voice called as she swooped down to kiss his cheek. He wrinkled his nose and shot her a funny look.

"Mmph."

"Goddess, it's great to talk to you. I mean, I know we've talked – but this is nice. Just the two of us." She smiled, taking the seat opposite him. "How are you?"

He still had that look on his face. "I'm fine."

"Oh, really? Me too. Thanks for asking." She giggled for a moment, then sighed and settled back, drumming her fingers on the table. "Do you want to call the waitress over?"

"Why can't you do it?"

She hesitated. "We... clash. I'm not sure I'm... comfortable with ordering from her." Jack grinned and lifted his hand, waving Ann over.

"What'll it be?" she asked, smiling at Jack and shooting Veronica a quick, meaningful glare. Jack ordered and watched in amusement as his sister stayed unusually silent until Ann had walked off. He'd believed that Ann was stubborn – believed that she wouldn't quite _get along_ with his sister – but it was the first time in his life that he'd seen anyone actually silence Veronica.

"Anyway," the red-head piped up as soon as the waitress left, "How is Jill? How's she doing? It kills me that she won't even talk to me anymore –"

"Jack?" he glanced over quickly to see Jill standing in the doorway, her eyes wide.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to see Gray –"

"Oh, he's great," Veronica jumped in. "You're lucky – he's a wonderful guy. Very, uh... what's the word? He's a real gentleman."

"I'm sure you think so," Jill retorted venomously. Jack sighed.

"Jill, she's just trying to start a conversation –"

"My boyfriend is not the kind of thing I want to be discussing with _her_, believe it or not."

Veronica stood up, her hands clasped in front of her. "Jill, please listen to me."

"... Yeah, I'm going to say 'no' to that." She turned around quickly, smashing straight into Ann who was carrying a tray loaded with food. Almost in slow motion, the waitress slipped backwards, sending the tray and its contents flying through the air, covering the unfortunate Veronica in a mixture of spaghetti, wine and salad.

"Goddess!" she exclaimed in disgust, holding her hands out to either side of her. "For heaven's sake, Jill!"

"How was that my fault?"

"You're such a –" she stopped herself before finishing the sentence, then made an exasperated noise and stormed upstairs.

"Bite me," the blonde snarled after her, spinning on her heel and walking quickly out of the inn. Jack buried his head in his hands and Ann's mouth twitched as she obviously tried to hold back a grin.

"You have to admit, I've got good aim."

"You threw it at her on _purpose_?" Jack asked, horrified.

"Did it seem like an accident?"

"A very, very coincidental accident. But yes, it did." Ann started laughing to herself and Jack – after a lot of huffing and scowling – eventually joined in.

**xxx**

Gray blinked a few times as Veronica came up the stairs towards him, covered in what looked like wine, tomato sauce and... pieces of salad? She had angry tears in her blue eyes, and her fists were clenched like she was just about ready to drop someone. Someone that hopefully wasn't him.

"Uh..."

"Learn to control your girlfriend," she snapped, pushing past him roughly and into her room. Gray reached out quickly, wrapping his hand around her tiny wrist and pulling her back.

"You're saying that _Jill _did that to you?"

"You're saying that you don't believe me?"

"I'm saying that I don't believe Jill would do something like that for no reason."

Veronica blinked at him for a few moments before sighing. "Come in. I'll tell you about it." She held open the door and waited until Gray shuffled past her, before closing it firmly and walking over to her mirror. "Yuck. Mascara everywhere."

"Where's Tom?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Not a clue. It's okay, he's a big boy. He can take care of himself." She paused, frowning slightly at the skeptical look on the blacksmith's face. "I trust him."

"I never said you didn't."

"You're thinking it. Look – neither of us are bad people. We love each-other, and... Jill unfortunately had to take the fall for that. I don't blame you for siding with your girlfriend – it's cute, actually – but you've spoken to me enough to know that I don't hate her. I love her very much, and... none of this was to hurt her." A long pause followed her statement, before Gray shook his head and sighed.

"Just... tell me what happened."

"I was having lunch with Jack," she said distractedly. Apparently, she had no reservations about getting changed in front of Gray, slipping a t-shirt on before taking her dress off, though showing a little more skin than Jill would deem 'appropriate' as she did it.

"Do you want me to leave while you get changed?" he asked dryly. Veronica looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize it could be uncomfortable. I'll wait until you're gone, then." He stood up to leave, but she protested. "No, not now! Just wait a few minutes, okay? We can finish talking."

Beginning to vaguely see why Jill might be suspicious, Gray hesitated. "Maybe I should go –"

"Jill walked in the door," she continued, cutting him off, "And kind of... scowled at us... and I said something, and she threw a tantrum –"

"Well, what did you say?"

Veronica paused. "Certainly nothing to provoke the response that she gave me –"

"What did you say?"

"I just said that... you were a great guy. I said she was lucky to have you." The blacksmith groaned, burying his head in his hands. "I didn't mean it like that! It's not my fault if she's hyper-sensitive about things like that." Gray raised an eyebrow, and her face fell. "Well... maybe that _is _kind of my fault... but I swear, I didn't mean to get her angry or anything."

"I know," he exhaled. "She's going to be really upset now, though."

"Anyway, she turned around really quickly, and the waitress girl –"

"Her name's Ann –"

"The waitress girl was right behind her, and she collided with Jill, and the dishes she was carrying spilt all over me."

She received a blank stare. "I... don't see how that could be Jill's fault. It was Ann who was holding the dishes, right?"

"Yes..."

"And could Jill... see Ann behind her when she turned around?"

Veronica sighed. "No... all right, all right. Maybe it was accidental."

"Jill's not spiteful. She doesn't really try and 'get back' at people."

"I know."

"I should probably go and find her," he said, walking over to the door. "She'll be upset."

"Tell her I didn't mean to get her angry," Veronica begged as he left. Gray shook his head.

"She might not like the idea that I spoke to you before I spoke to her. I'll... see you later." He pushed the door open and walked out, half-expecting to be ambushed by a suspicious blonde. Of course, there was no-one there - and as far as he was concerned, he had nothing to hide – but obviously, if he was feeling this guilty, something was wrong.

**xxx**

"H-I-J," Mary muttered under her breath, putting a book away on the shelf in perfect order. She sighed, glancing over her shoulder at the empty library.

It was so lonely, now that Gray wasn't coming anymore. Tim still came on Wednesdays, her dad would drop by occasionally, just to make her feel like _someone _was remotely interested in the books, but now that her most loyal customer hadn't been by for months... she wasn't feeling incredibly popular. Then again, there was Jack...

Huh. Jack was... different. Incredibly self-assured, but at the same time, he seemed to be constantly seeking her approval. It wasn't a bad thing, and there were times when she was with him that she could forget about Gray, for a few hours. Those times were becoming more frequent, as well.

She obviously wouldn't admit that she had a soft spot for his cheeky smile and charm, but there was no point in denying that he could make her laugh like no-one else had ever been able to. Sure, there were times when she wanted nothing more than to slap him, but at the same time... she couldn't help but accept that there was something like affection growing. Compared to Gray, his personality couldn't be more different...

Goodness, it was ridiculous of her to even be thinking about it! She knew from speaking to him and his sister that Jack had dated a ridiculous amount of beautiful girls. The only reason he would pay the slightest attention towards her was... see, she couldn't think of a single reason! It was best that she put it out of her mind for good.

That resolution didn't stop her heart from racing at the sound of the door opening. She raced back to her desk, sitting down and brushing a few stray hairs back into her braid.

"Good afternoon," she said, quickly flipping open a novel to look as if she'd been reading it, not daydreaming.

"Hey," the man said, running one hand through his dark hair as he glanced around the room. "My name's Tom. I'm... on holidays here, and someone told me that there was a beautiful librarian – I mean, library."

Feeling slightly sick at his terrible pick-up line, Mary grabbed another novel, obviously not interested in making conversation. "Feel free to read or borrow anything," she said quietly. Wasn't he Jack's brother in law?

"What book would you recommend?" Tom asked, not willing to end the conversation so abruptly.

"They're all fine."

"You don't have... a particular favourite? You seem like a girl with good taste."

"I am. And I certainly know what I _don't_ like," she told him, glaring adamantly. Tom looked a little taken-aback by now, and quietly walked upstairs, leaving a very annoyed Mary behind him.

She exhaled slowly, deciding to forget about it, and actually started reading the novel in her hands. When Tom returned and stood directly in front of her, she didn't acknowledge him until he started to speak. "Interesting book?"

"Very."

"What's it called?" Mary wordlessly flipped the book to show him the cover, then continued reading. "What's it about?"

"Would _you _like to read it?" she asked, standing up, pressing the novel into his hands and walking over to the other side of the room under the pretence of searching one of those shelves.

"I didn't mean to cause an inconvenience – here, you were reading it first –"

"Not at all. I can read it at any time I feel like it."

He cleared his throat, glancing at the book in his hands and looking a little confused. "So... I wouldn't expect to find a library in a little town like this. You must like reading, huh?"

"That _would _be the most logical reason for me to be a librarian."

"Oh," he laughed. "Of course. So... you know Jill, right?"

"Yes."

"Are you two good friends?"

"Not particularly close. I've heard some interesting things about her life, though." The handsome man seemed to blush a little, studying Mary intently.

"Ah – right. You're, uh... right." He received a sweet, sarcastic smile before Mary turned away from him once again. It was puzzling for Tom – girls didn't usually act like this towards him; quite the opposite. Never mind – it was just one girl.

On the other hand, why should this girl be any different? Surely he could change her mind eventually. Maybe she was a feminist? Maybe she was playing hard to get, and really _wanted _him to keep flirting with her. Maybe... he walked over to the librarian once more, intending to ask her to recommend another book.

"Hey, Mary. Hey, jackass." Tom turned quickly to see Jack standing in the library's doorway, arms crossed over his chest aggressively. He thought he heard a muffled laugh come from the librarian next to him.

"Jack," the dark-haired man replied bitterly. Jack raised a threatening eyebrow and quickly stared him down, making Tom duck his head and hurriedly leave the library. The farmer turned back to Mary, grinning.

"How are you?"

"Fine," she replied, trying unsuccessfully to tone down the smile on her face. "I see you and your brother are very close."

"He's not my brother," Jack replied instantly, shaking his head. "Don't call him my brother. Brother in law, is the correct term, and I refuse to call him even _that_. I can't think of a word horrible enough to describe him." He bit his lip, a tiny smirk on his face. "You two looked quite cozy though, standing over there in the corner. I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Mary scowled at him, a look of complete outrage on her face. Jack winced. "I'm kidding."

"I'll have you know, I was less than polite to him."

"Ooh, less than polite? The poor guy." He received another scowl and Mary sat down at her desk, remaining silent. Jack moved over and kneeled down next to her, giving her a beseeching stare. "Don't be mad at me."

"Too late," she replied, her face deadly serious. She gathered some paper out of a drawer and started writing, determinedly ignoring the miserable boy next to her.

"Mary – Mary, look at me." She kept writing, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Don't be mad," he begged sincerely, genuinely believing that she was angry with him. "Mares..."

She bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile – but before she could regain her serious composure, Jack spotted the humor in her expression. "Mary," he scolded, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest. "That's so immature."

"Oh, that's rich coming from you."

"Touche."

The librarian smiled, shaking her head. "You're... a lot more complicated than I initially thought, you know?"

"You're exactly as complicated as I initially thought. Of course, you couldn't really be any _more _complicated." He sighed, tilting his head to the side and looking at her closely. "You're a confusing girl, Mary."

**xxx**

"Hey," Jill sighed, opening the front door of her home to a familiar pair of blue eyes. "Come in." Gray quietly followed her, watching in concern as she walked with a little less spring than usual.

"Are you okay?" She turned on her heel quickly, blinking at him.

"Fine. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"... I heard what happened this morning?"

"Oh." She looked at the floor, seeming embarrassed and a little ashamed. "I didn't... do that to her on purpose."

"I know," he replied, moving closer. He gently touched her cheek, tilting her face towards him. "I hate seeing you like this."

"Like what," she muttered, shrugging and taking a few steps back. His brow furrowed in distress and hurt, Gray examined her.

"Like _this_. Why are you –"

"I'm sorry," she whimpered suddenly, sitting down on her bed abruptly and burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry –"

"Shh," he instructed, beginning to get really worried. He quickly crossed over and sat down next to Jill, holding her close as she shook – not exactly crying, just shaking. Resting his head on her blonde one, he bit his lip, confused. "Jill... what's wrong, exactly?"

"I don't know," she choked out. "Gray... I think I'm going insane."

"Don't say that," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

"I can't cope with this anymore," she exhaled. "I see her... I see _her_ looking at you, Gray, and it's driving me crazy – I feel mad at _you_, half the time, and you haven't done anything wrong. I just want her to leave."

"What about Tom," he asked in a low voice. Jill shrugged.

"You would think that I'd be so angry with him... but Goddess, I just... can't be bothered. All my negative energy is going towards Veronica – she's my sister, and she stabbed me in the back –"

"She loves you –"

"And she has a brilliant way of showing it, stealing one boyfriend, trying goodness knows what with the other –"

"Jill," he snapped immediately. "She might be your sister, but she was only eighteen when she did it. I know that I certainly didn't make all the right decisions when I was eighteen – I still don't."

"Would you have done something like that to your own sister?"

"I don't have a sister anymore," he said angrily. Jill's eyes widened apologetically, but Gray went on before she could say anything. "Family should be the most important thing in the world, if you're lucky enough to have it. Tom isn't your family, Jill. Veronica's the one you should try to forgive."

"He was like family," she said softly, tears in her eyes. "He was more my family than Veronica ever was. He loved me."

"He _loved _you. Veronica still does. Goddess, Jill, _I _love you more than you can imagine. It doesn't really seem to make a difference to you, though." He got to his feet in frustration, striding across the room and ripping the hat off his head, twisting it in his hands.

"Don't say that," she said angrily, getting to her own feet and crossing her arms over her chest, tears streaming freely. "You know how much you mean to me. I love you, okay? I love you, I love you."

A stunned expression on his face, he coughed. "You... what?"

"Of course I do," she sobbed, sinking down onto her bed again. "I love you. I just –" in all of two steps, Gray had crossed the room, his arms wrapped around her tight, his lips firmly on hers. She hesitantly clasped her hands around his broad shoulders before breaking the kiss and resting her head on his chest. "Please, just... don't hurt me." She paused for a moment. "And don't leave me."

"As if I ever would."

"No matter what Veronica does or says?"

"Jill."

"I can't help it," she said, "It's like... an automatic reaction when it comes to her. For heaven's sake, I sincerely doubt that either of them is above cheating on the other. She sees something that she wants, and she gets it... and Tom's never been easy to say no to either, believe me."

Gray pulled back a little, searching her face. "You mean..."

"I mean he's persuasive... and manipulative, and you don't even realize until it's too late. He can make... _anything _sound like a good idea, and when you finally work out what a bad idea it was, it all seems to be your own fault somehow."

"What are you talking about?"

Jill shrugged in despair. "Nothing. Everything. I don't even know, anymore. It's all... so confusing, I just..." she sighed, linking his larger hand with her own. "You're the only thing that keeps me going. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Gray half-smiled, looking down at their hands clasped together. "You'll never need to find out."

**xxx**

Two days passed quickly, with nothing extraordinary occuring. Tom visited the library both days and continued to be snubbed; Jack visited the library both days and succeeded in scaring him off. Gray, after seeing the state that it had got Jill into, tried to stop spending any time with Veronica – but found that she made it a little hard to avoid her. Jill... seemed to pick up, with support coming from Jack, Gray, Ann – and most surprisingly, Mary, who had dropped by to check up on how she was doing.

This had resulted in a minor squabble between Jack and Jill – Jack swearing that he hadn't been talking about her behind her back, and Jill... not believing him. Their disagreement passed quickly, however, and it wasn't long before everything started to go back to normal, with no major dramas.

Of course, in Mineral Town, that couldn't last long.

"Finally," Ann exhaled, throwing a dish cloth to the floor and sighing loudly. "That's all the work I'm doing today." She quickly picked up the dish cloth and ran into the kitchen, bouncing back out and grinning at her blonde visitor.

"Ann, it's... ten in the morning," Jill pointed out, confused.

"By today, I meant my fifteen minute break. So hurry up and tell me why you're here – my time is very, very valuable."

"Well... I'm here because I'm your friend... but obviously that doesn't give me the priority that I thought it did..."

"Guess not." Jill looked most seriously affronted, and Ann grinned, slapping her on the back. "I'm kidding. Smile. Sit down."

Saluting like she was in the army, Jill sat down at one of the tables, waiting for Ann to take the seat opposite. "Okay, so there _is_ kind of a reason I'm here -"

"Ah, the truth comes out." She received a glare and pressed her hand over her mouth, gesturing for Jill to go on.

"I keep thinking about the other day –"

"Me too, my darling."

"Ann! Stop! I mean that conversation we had... where you said you weren't so interested in Cliff... and I was asking if there was someone else."

"Of course there is."

"Who?"

"You, Jill." She lowered her eyelids in a completely failed attempt at being something like seductive. "I thought you knew."

"Very funny," Jill scowled as Ann doubled over with laughter. She watched the redhead crack up for a few more minutes, before smacking her arm. "It wasn't funny at all, actually."

Ann took a few moments more, breathing in and out slowly, becoming half-serious. "I told you, of course there isn't anyone else."

"Are you sure? I mean, I believe you –"

"Clearly you don't."

"But," she continued, narrowing her eyes, "It just seems... weird. That you could so suddenly move on from Cliff, you know?"

"Did I say I'd moved on? I said that there wasn't the same chemistry, or something to that effect, as far as I remember. No, I didn't. I said that he was acting really, really shy."

"That's because it's Cliff! If you weren't expecting shy, you weren't thinking of the right person! Cliff is shy! Shy and Cliff are like... like... well, outgoing and Cliff are like... dolphins and oranges."

"... Do I even want to ask?"

"When you hear the word dolphin, do you immediately think of oranges? No."

"I will now. And when I hear either of them, I'll think of you. And when I hear the word outgoing, or the word Cliff, I'll think of you and dolphins and oranges."

"Ann!"

"Ann!" A male voice mimicked from behind them, earning himself a glare from Jill.

"Don't make fun of me, Jack."

Ignoring his sister, Jack petted Ann's red hair. "Is she being mean to you?"

"Yes," Ann whimpered, turning and clinging to the front of his shirt, an exaggerated distraught expression on her face. "She keeps telling me scary stories about orange dolphins. Make her stop, please!"

A smirk playing on his lips, Jack raised an eyebrow at Jill and crossed his arms over his chest. "I think Jill owes someone an apology."

"Oh, for heaven's sake. You two need to... I don't care, get married or something, and annoy each-other instead of annoying me."

"That's what _I _keep telling her," Jack said sarcastically, holding out his arm to Ann.

"Shut up, Jack," the waitress warned.

"Yes, dear. Come over the other side of the inn, get away from this grump. Although," he continued, turning back to Jill, "I did come here to find you. But I can talk to you at home."

"Not if I kick you out. Mmph," she muttered in protest as Jack swooped down, brushing blonde hair out of her face and kissing both of her cheeks twice.

"You won't kick me out, little sister."

"Yes?" Veronica asked brightly, tapping his shoulder. "Did you say little sister?" Tension suddenly filled the room as Jack grimaced, Jill determinedly looked away and Ann twiddled her thumbs, probably oblivious to the situation.

"I meant the other one, but I guess you'll do."

She giggled. "Oh. Lucky I only have one big brother, then." She was consciously avoiding eye-contact with Jill.

"I –"

"Veronica," a voice called sharply, making everyone glance over to the man standing at the bottom of the stairs, a scowl on his face. "If you really want to still be standing there when we celebrate New Years..."

"I'm coming," she replied sharply. "Goddess, can you wait for... you know, five seconds?"

"I've waited for about a thousand lots of five seconds."

"Then five more aren't going to kill you, are they?" Hissing what sounded like a choice expletive under his breath, Tom made his way to the front door and pushed it open quickly. Veronica bit her lip, her face flushed as three pairs of interested eyes made their way to her. "We... I should probably go too," she stuttered, leaving them just as quickly. Ann and Jack shot each-other confused looks, while Jill stared quietly at her hands. The farmer nodded to the bar, indicating for the redhead to follow him and leave Jill alone in her thought bubble for a little while.

Thought bubble she was indeed in, but she'd barely registered the exchange between Veronica and Tom, too busy puzzling something else out. Ann... denied that she liked someone else. She wouldn't lie, but it could be... self denial on her part as well, right?

She glanced up at her, resting her chin in her hand as she watched the waitress smack her brother – no doubt for saying something obnoxious. How that girl put up with him without being related to him was a mystery – but they seemed to have fun together. There weren't many people who Ann seemed to genuinely appreciate, and Jack was one of them.

Jill's eyes widened in sudden shock.

Holy Goddess.

Suddenly, the other man in Ann's life wasn't looking like such a mystery any more.

**xxx**

"You're so moody," Veronica snapped, catching up to her husband. "For heaven's sake, they're not going to sign over any company to a couple that looks like they're about to get divorced at any minute."

"We're not getting divorced," he growled. "Stop exaggerating. I'm just mad at you."

"Mad at _me_? I swear, she was being the most obnoxious, sullen little b-"

"I don't give a crap if she slapped your pretty little face, all right? From what I heard, you threw a tantrum at her."

"I thought she threw a freaking bowl of _salad_ at me! Not to mention wine... spaghetti sauce... that was an expensive dress."

"We get the company, Veronica, and you can have as many damn dresses as you want. We don't get the company, you're going to have to cut the stupid thing into scrap material to make blankets for when we're living on the streets."

Her fists clenched tightly, she walked a little faster as he did. "Don't give me that. I had one miniature argument with her."

He turned quickly, grabbing her shoulders tight. "Maybe you should stop flirting with that pathetic boyfriend of hers."

"He's a nice guy," she said through gritted teeth, wrenching herself away from him. "I don't flirt with him."

"He's a _blacksmith_. Goddess," he exhaled, turning away again. "How... could she go from me, to a blacksmith. She could do so much better."

Eyes narrowed, Veronica stepped out in front of him, poking his chest with one finger. "You're... mad about that, aren't you? That Jill's... moved on."

"I don't care what she does, but if you must know, yeah. I think it's a little insulting that he's following up for me."

"You're the pathetic one," she spat, rolling her eyes. "He's sweet to her, she's happy with him, and I don't think you really _want_ her to be happy."

"Please. You're the one that doesn't want her to be happy."

"You did _not_ just say that. She's my sister – I love her. Don't you dare tell me that I don't want happiness for my only sister –"

"Then why are you with me?"

Veronica sighed, shaking her head angrily. "You had to bring that up, right? Do you remember what happened, Tom? You came onto me. I kept pushing you away, didn't I? I told you, so many times that it wasn't right, and if I hadn't liked you for so long, I wouldn't have done anything. You were older, and I somehow ended up having to be the mature one. You can be such a jerk."

"You can be such a stubborn princess."

They'd reached the stairs to the beach and she flounced down them, over to the water's edge. She stood there silently for a few moments, before shaking her head and sighing. "What are we doing? I love you. I'm sorry for saying all that."

Tom grunted in reply, not exactly the apology she'd expected, but she let it go as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "We need to talk about the important things."

"Fights between us are important," she mumbled.

"The company is more important right now."

"More important than our marriage?"

"Veronica," he warned. "Please remember that we have a daughter to think about. What I want to say to you is that I think I'm getting somewhere with Jill – and personally, I think that you're undoing all my hard work with your flirting with her boyfriend and irritating her. Don't argue with me," he warned quickly as she opened her mouth. "I think you're... managing, with Jack. So what's going to happen... I'm going to stay away from Jack... you're going to stay away from Jill... and we'll leave it for them to tell each other how good we've been to them."

"I don't flirt with Gray," she said quickly, despite the glare she received. "Don't give me that look, I _don't_. I think... he's a wonderful person, but if I was flirting, trust me. You'd notice."

"I don't see why you _would _flirt with him... is she serious about this? A blacksmith?"

"Stop saying that like it makes a difference. I'd still love you if you were a blacksmith – and you'd still love me if I was poor, right?"

He hesitated for a moment, before nodding quickly. "Sure."

"I think you're jealous of him."

"I thought you weren't flirting with him?"

"Not because of me," she exhaled, her eyes narrowed. "Because of Jill."

"Please," he scoffed weakly. "I – don't be ridiculous."

"You are. I don't mind. I kind of expected it."

"Listen – that blonde, bimbo idiot _was _a part of my life, when I was younger, granted. Now? You're smarter, younger, and we have more in common. Common, uh... life goals, if you will."

"Don't call my sister an idiot. She's never been wonderful at... anything... but she's not an idiot."

"Okay," he groaned. "Look... all we're going to do today is argue. We'll go back to the inn, have dinner, go to bed and talk more tomorrow when you're thinking clearly."

She watched him walk off without waiting for her to agree, and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not the one that isn't thinking clearly," she muttered.

**xxx**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: Chapter 37**

**So. Sorry again for the procrastination in updating, but hopefully I'm out of trouble for giving you guys a double update :)**

**Just on a completely random side note, wish me luck for my dancing nationals next week! Pwease?**

**Aaaaand, I'm totally taking the 'y12' off the end of my penname. I'll just be HmGirl. Or HmGirly, if I decide to stay eight years old xD. I'd change it completely, but I really don't wanna confuse people. Haha.**

**Reviewers – thank you so much for being so patient.**

**AmethystPrincess93 – **_Haha. Love triangles are always interesting, but things might not be exactly as they seem. Tom is really and truly a jerk, and I'm afraid he only gets worse. Thanks so much for reviewing._

**Muu-chan – **_Yeah, Veronica has some sense of sibling love... when it comes down to it, she's looking out for herself, and if she can look out for her family at the same time, she will. Heh. Thanks!_

**technologychic29 – **_Well, Veronica isn't so bad. And believe me, you're going to like Tom even less in not too much time. xD you're exactly right – if Mary really fell for Jack, I can't imagine that she'd be able to get over it easily, especially after Gray._

**The Scarlet Sky – **_America and England (WOOP!) I'll believe you're not all rude fat people if you believe we're not all cattle farmers who live in the middle of the desert and prefer hopping around in kangaroo pouches to driving in cars. O.o LOL. I know. I don't think Mary appreciates Tom's, uh... 'talents'. Hahaha – Veronica and Won. -ponders- ... it's uh... original, I give you that. xD. Thanks so much for the long long long review!_

**DoubleKK – **_Maybe I'll just have someone accidently stumble into Tom when he's conveniently standing on the top of Mother's Hill, or holding a sharp knife in a precarious position, or something. ZOMG. Are you insane? God, Ann and Tom. That would be... a VERY interesting pairing, I'll say that much. Pfft. Hope you enjoy the chapter!_

**Harvestman – **_Aw, thanks. Glad you liked it. I know, JackxAnn is a lot more common than JackxMary is now. Thank you again._

**awesomeking – **_Your favourite chapter? Really? Wow. That's really good to know – I'm happy it made you laugh, as well! Hopefully these two chapters don't disappoint!_

**Trying to Breakaway – **_Their plan isn't totally evil, but they're willing to go to questionable extremes to get the company. Yes, Jill loves him – and I think it's because she's beginning to see that Tom really isn't all that perfect in comparison. I can't wait to hear your feedback for these chapters!_

**DemonDude12 – **_Thank you! I think Jill has an exceedingly over-active imagination. Then again, sometimes she can be absolutely dead-on without realising it, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out XD. I'm happy that you think the story is good as it is; I've done a lot of the rewrite and I don't want to waste that, so I'll eventually end up changing it. But thank you so much for the support :)_

**Ultra Drama Queen – **_Naww, thanks. I think Veronica has flashes of sympathy... you know, the occasional moment where she feels bad... I don't think she's quite there yet where she's ready to change her ways, but at least she knows what she's doing wrong, and that's a start. I'm glad you liked all my attempts at romance-y type stuff, and it does snow in Australia – not where I live, it doesn't get cold enough, but up on the mountains it certainly does. Haha._

**Midnight Shine – **_Yeah... Jill does have an exceptionally over-the-top imagination, truth be told... hopefully these two chapters will clear a few things up for you, but they'll probably just confuse you even more, truth be told. Lol. So, I hope you're still enjoying and reading, and I really hope you let me know what you think of these two. Thanks again for the review!_

**Simply Smitten – **_I know what you mean... there's a point coming up in the story, chapter 40 I think, and it's going to set off this whole chain of events that I cannot WAIT to write. Yay! I think... I mean, as the author, I've got a soft spot for Veronica. She's not entirely evil. Hopefully you'll get some perspective on the MaryxJackxAnn thing, and become less confused. Or not. Haha._

**iChocoLove – **_That's a good way to describe it – 'so many things don't seem like what they really are' – very true. LOL – did I really write Tim instead of Tom? Stupid typos. And I think he looks a little like the doctor, so... eh. Thank you for reviewing!_

**CrystallineHands – **_I know – Veronica seems to be beginning to realize that she's done something wrong. She's mature in some ways, and very immature in others. Tom really is the type that will usually want the girls he knows he can't have. Yeah, that's what I'm aiming for XD. Hope you like the chapters._

**stateofmind7337 – **_Haha. I've fixed the problem, huh? Ahh, let me know what your decision about who to marry on FoMT was. I always married either Mary or Ann as well. And take as much time as you need to warm up to Veronica. LOL at your insane, very twisted imagination. Goodness, I don't know what other colours you're going to come up with for the sky and grass. Thanks for the very amusing review, once again._

**Babybear – **_Oh my goodness, I think I can honestly say that that's the longest review I've ever had. Over 500 words! Okay, here goes: I hope you weren't too disappointed with how long it took me to update. I know that there are a few guys like Tom out there, and they're the type that always seem to get everything they want even though they don't deserve it. Luckily, people in Mineral Town don't think that designer clothes and a whole lot of money is the most important thing. I liked your theory about Veronica craving attention, and being the type to flirt without really registering that she's doing it... and Tom will flirt, knowing that he's flirting, and regardless of right or wrong. I think Jack and Jill will be okay, they have a fair bit of common sense... well, Jack at least xD. Thanks for saying the story is fine the way it is, I'll just fix up a few things. Thank you so so much for that awesome and very introspective review!_

**Icee Suicune – **_I LIVE, believe it or not! Oh no, I'm really not going to be going easy on Jill. What else is new, right? She's okay for the moment, but things will start to go downhill for her eventually, and plummet from there. I have NO idea what Total Drama Island is, I have to be honest with you xD. I'll google it. Thanks for giving me your opinion!_

**ZombieDragon – **_Thanks! Yup, there's a fair bit of foreshadowing in it. Sightseeing is going to be great – haven't gone yet, but it'll be wonderful. Thanks for the review!_

**Riku-The-Ninja – **_Aw, thanks. I hope you kept reading, and if you did, I hope you like these two chapters._

**Jean Cooper – **_Jean! I thought you'd disappeared until you updated MFC (which, incidentally, you must remind me to review.) I hope everything is going okay for you. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like these!_

**Silver Illusory – **_It's always great to get as many opinions as you can, and it looks like the reviewers are fairly split on Mary or Ann. Haha. No, it's probably a good thing if you don't let yourself like Veronica after just one example of looking like she has a heart. I swear I'll try to get updates more frequently, now. I've been really bad with updates lately –sad face–_

**melii101 – **_Aww, thank you so much! It must take ages to read all the chapters by now. But if it was helping you avoid homework or something like that, then YAY! It was really good to hear your opinion on the pairings, and Veronica and Tom. If you can be bothered, let me know what you think of these updates! Thanks so much!_

**Devilishduck – **_I actually think CliffxAnn is like... the cutest canon pairing in the history of the universe. Except for RickxKaren, that is xD. So... yeah, just so you know, I far from hate that pair. Tom and Veronica don't have the most stable relationship in the world... there's a whole lotta physical attraction, but not much for them to connect on an emotional level. –hugs you for reviewing–_

**pisceanchic101 – **_I hope you didn't become elderly in the time it took me to update. Seriously, I'm so sorry. Jack gets jealous verrry easily, but it's unusual for him, because... he never really cared enough about any of the girls he dated to GET jealous, if you understand what I mean? Yup, Veronica doesn't seem as bad as Tom, does she? Thanks so much._

**Song Of The Sparrow – **_Oh, everyone's opinions matter! Thank you for letting me know what you thought, and yes, she finally admitted (to herself more than anyone else) that she loves him._

**AsianFlipGurl – **_As if! I have as much fun writing the review replies as I do reading them. It just takes a lot of time, but it's really fun. It made my day to hear that you like it so much, and I hope these chapters don't let you down! Thanks for letting me know what you think about everything. Yay!_

**Weinner Sinclaire – **_Yeah. She's starting to believe that Gray won't hurt her like Tom did, but heck, that man still has control over her. It's a very good idea to stay worried about Veronica (how the heck do you shorten that to a nickname?) because... yeah, she does cause a lot of trouble. But I guess that was a given. I DO know Quagmire, and nearly died laughing when I thought about the comparison. It's so sadly true. I think in Tom's dictionary, 'feminist' is anyone who doesn't automatically swoon when he glances their way. Trust me – and I think you'll get all you need out of this comment – the end pairing does make sense. It's been – and will continue to be – built up, and it will make sense. I don't even know how I would make the other pairing work. And I just gave it away completely, but eh. Let us hope that not too many people read my review reply to you. Thanks so much for the awesome-long and perceptive review._

**Kaiser Einrich – **_Well... Tom is the more evil of the two. And he knows damn well the hold that he has over Jill, and he intends to get the most out of it that he can. Ahaha. I should probably tell you that I used your very violent imagery to threaten one of my friends the other day... if you want to sue me for copyright or something, go for your life. xD. LOL because I was playing Cluedo for the first time in years like... the same day that you made the library comment. I love your point of view on JackxMary, as well, just so you know. I'm hoping it turns out interesting... because I love what I've got planned, but whether I can pull it off may be a different story. Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

**Kiminochi – **_Aw! I don't think I'm very good at writing detail at all, but it means so much for you to say it! I promise I'll do my best to answer every question by the end of the story, and in the meantime, I'm open to PMs and I'll answer what I can xD. I don't think you needed to wait as long as the others, so... yay! Thanks again!_

**monkeygirl82000 – **_Oh my goodness, 13 hours. That's ages. Pfft, as if you could be bothered reading this story for that long. (Then again, not everyone is as lazy as me. I have to keep reminding myself of that.) OMG. YOU'RE ALMOST AS WEIRD AS ME. I'm determined to name my first son Jack, and my second son Gray. Haha. I like Claire better than Jill as well, truth be told... when I started, I thought there wasn't as many Jill characters, so this would get noticed better... didn't realise it was because the canon name for the blonde farmer is Claire. Heh. You should know, your review was what kicked my butt into updating. Good job :) and that's so awesome that you copied and pasted some dialogue. Just out of curiosity, could you give me some examples? Thank you so much for the review!_

**That literally took hours. I love your reviews so so so so so much. Thanks, guys! Enjoy!**

**xxx**

"Just come in with me," Jack pressed, his forehead wrinkled in confusion as he stood with his sister outside the Poultry Farm. "I just need more chicken feed. I'll be... twenty seconds. Don't be so difficult. You want to visit Rick and Karen, don't you?"

"Not particularly," the blonde replied in a weak voice. Jack shot her another funny glance.

"Why are you being so weird?"

"I... I don't feel well," Jill said truthfully. She didn't feel well at all – her heart was racing and her mouth was painfully dry. She hadn't spoken to Rick since his wedding; she didn't know what to say to him. Ask him how his marriage was going? Ugh. Maybe she was exaggerating matters in her head – maybe she'd worked this all up out of proportion – but it all seemed horribly tragic in her eyes. Poor Rick. Goddess, she hadn't been able to get it off her mind – he was so, so brave to have done what he did... and she'd never understand how he'd found the inner strength. What could she say to a man like that?

"Oy," she scowled, realising that Jack had pushed the door open and led her inside without gaining her notice. Biting her lip, she lowered her gaze to the floor, until a soft greeting that was certainly not Rick's met her ears.

"Good morning," Lillia said with a gentle smile. "It's a Sunday, you know."

"Oh, Lillia," Jack pouted. "I don't need much, and it's not for me... it's for the chickens."

She laughed warmly, shaking her head at the farmer. "Alright. It won't hurt for me to serve you on a Sunday just this once." Jack sauntered over to the counter and started placing his order. His sister hurriedly glanced up, immediately gasping as she noticed her surroundings.

"It's... so different," she eventually choked out at Jack and Lillia's questioning stares. Karen's presence was blatantly obvious already – bold, colourful bits and pieces of clutter was scattered all over the room, clothes strewn on top of everything, and a curious, stale smell – something burnt – was lingering in the air.

Lillia pursed her lips. "I've... tried to tidy up a little, but Karen – bless her – always scolds me, tells me to rest... that she'll do it all later. She doesn't, of course." She shook her head, smiling slightly despite what she was saying. "It does me good to have her around, though. Popuri adores having an older sister of sorts... and Karen's such a bubbly, loud girl. She always manages to bring a smile to my face. I'm sure things like housework will sort themselves out once she has everything unpacked, and is past the... newlywed stage."

"How's Rick doing?" Jack asked cheerfully, unknowingly voicing Jill's own question. "I bet he's happy."

Lillia hesitated, then half-smiled. "Yes, he's fine," she said simply, not choosing to elaborate. Seeming suddenly distant, she pushed two large paper bags towards Jack. "There's all your chicken feed. Take care of yourselves," her eyes lingered on Jill for a moment, "... both of you."

"Thanks, Lil," Jack said with a quick wink that made his sister roll her eyes. "We'll come by soon. If the house isn't cleared up in a few days, Jill and I would be happy to come around and help you sort things out."

"Speak for yourself," Jill muttered incoherently. Jack frowned at her, not catching her words but correctly interpreting her tone.

"Jill! Jack! How wonderful to see you!" A stunning brunette barrelled through the front door, dropping her husband's hand and launching herself over to hug both of the siblings in turn.

"K-Karen," Jack choked, prying her arms from around his neck. Next to him, Jill was massaging her own neck with a frown. "Hey. Hey, Rick." The bespectacled man glanced up for a split second, smiled, then quickly returned his gaze to the floor.

"I haven't seen either of you since the reception," Karen rushed on, clearly oblivious to her husband's discomfort. "Gosh, it's been – oh, you're not going already, are you?"

"That was the plan..." Jack began slowly.

"No, no," she insisted, shaking her head. "Stay for awhile. I'll just get lunch ready –" the siblings and Lillia blanched, "– we've just got some take away from the inn, and there's more than enough for all of us." Slight relief became apparent of the faces of all three, and Jack nodded immediately, earning an incredulous, though unnoticed glare from his sister. Karen was receiving a similar, also unnoticed glare from Rick.

What seemed like hours passed as lunch was prepared, eaten, and Jack launched into non-stop conversation with Karen. After a twenty minute chat about city fast-food chains, the brunette gave an excited exclamation.

"I completely forgot!"

"I'm going to the clinic now," Lillia called behind her, interrupting Karen as she pushed out the door.

"You've got some... handyman qualities, right?" Karen continued, staring at Jack expectantly.

"I certainly like to think so," he grinned, leaning backwards, his hands behind his head.

"There's a broken window in Popuri's room, and Rick and I are completely lost. It's not the window itself; it's more the fact that the frame won't close properly... in summer, it wouldn't be such a problem –" Rick snorted, earning a reprimanding scowl from Karen. "Well, Rick thinks that Kai's going to climb through the window in summer. But at the _moment_, we're nearing winter, and I'm reasonably worried about it when the really cold weather comes. Popuri'll be sick all season."

"Not a problem," Jack exhaled, getting to his feet. "Do you want me to take a look at it now?"

"I'll show you," she nodded, walking upstairs with Jack at her heels. Jill smiled to herself a little, before the smile was instantly replaced with horror at the realisation that she and Rick had been left alone together. He, apparently, had realised much earlier than she had and there was an awful silence as the two sat there, both significantly pale.

The silence stretched on for a long, long time – Jill was shooting frequent desperate glances upstairs and Rick was starting at his hands, slowly shaking his head every few minutes.

"I can't see you, Jill," he said after a long time, so gently that she wasn't sure if she'd imagined it or not. She frowned.

"I'm right here." She waved one hand at him.

He smiled and shook his head once more, eyes closed. "Jill. I mean... I shouldn't see you. Not for awhile. It isn't fair to Karen."

"Rick, you're just my friend –"

"I know," he said quickly, opening his eyes. "I... I know."

"Then why –"

"Because you know you're more than that to me. I have to focus everything I have on Karen," he replied steadily. "I have to be there for her... I have to learn to feel the same way about her... that I feel about you." He finished his sentence quietly, glancing out the window. "She's my wife now. My wife... and just _seeing _you shouldn't create this reaction from a married man." Rick seemed to be having great difficulty with choking out words like 'wife' and 'married', no doubt partly due to the incredulous, unmoving look on Jill's face.

"So... what you're saying," she began slowly, clenching her fists, "Is that you... don't want to be my friend anymore?"

"Don't _want _to?" he asked instantly. "Goddess, what I _want _is so much more than being your friend. It's not a matter of what I want, it's a matter of what I can and can't handle, and right now –"

Both of them jumped about a foot at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them. Jill squinted her eyes closed, expecting Karen to attack her, but her heart lifted in relief at the sound of Jack's hushed voice.

"She's coming downstairs now," he muttered simply, gesturing for Jill to stand up. Rick's face was literally white as he watched the siblings, Jack shooting Jill a half-understanding, half-worried look.

"We should go, then," he said, suddenly much more quiet. They heard Karen's footsteps clunking downstairs.

"Are you leaving already?" she asked, looking a little affronted.

"We have to do some harvesting," he lied. Karen obviously didn't pick up on his slight hesitation, and gave a sigh of acceptance.

"Okay. I'm so busy, as a married woman – no time for socialising, I guess. Come by soon, I'll try making time for you."

"Yeah," Jack said with an almost sad smile, his voice unusually subdued, his hand gripping Jill's arm tightly. "We'll see you soon enough." He walked his sister out the door and through the property gate, past the blacksmithing shop. Jill shot him a desperate look through her hair, hanging across her face in a blonde mass. He was completely silent; very unusual for her brother – she knew that the situation was serious, but Jack was usually the type to make jokes... relieving the tension instead of making it much, much worse.

"Jack –"

"He's in love with you," he stated plainly. Jill blushed at his frankness.

"W-well..."

"He's in love with you," he repeated, his voice uncharacteristically sharp.

"Yes," Jill said simply.

He ran one hand down his face wearily. "And he... _doesn't_ love Karen?"

"I'm sure there's a part of him that does," she half-whispered, answering a question that she wasn't all that sure of herself.

Jack ran an impatient hand through his dark hair. "What does that mean for... everything?"

"It means that Rick's going to go on keeping everyone but himself happy," Jill said sadly. "Why are you so... concerned about this?"

"Why didn't you tell me, Jill?" he asked suddenly, a hint of desperation in his voice. "I thought you told me everything."

"Oh," she sighed, suddenly understanding. "Jack, I do. It's just... it isn't really my secret, but Rick's. It isn't going to _really _affect me if people find out, but it'll be so hard on him."

"I just... it makes me wonder what else you aren't telling me," he said, looking extremely tired all of a sudden.

"I tell you anything that can't hurt other people," she whispered. "I wouldn't tell anyone any of _your_ secrets. And speaking of which, how can you tell me that _I'm _keeping things from you? Jack, I don't know a thing about your life. I refuse to believe that you, of all people, have gone a year without having a girlfriend unless there was a very significant reason."

"Maybe I'm changing," he said defensively. "Maybe I'm maturing."

Jill tilted her head to the side suddenly. "For who?"

Her question obviously threw him off. "I – who says I'm changing _for_ anyone? Maybe I'm just sick of meaningless relationships. Maybe I'm holding off until I find someone that means more to me than that."

"I think you're doing this because you've already found her," Jill said, her eyebrows lowered. "I can't believe you haven't told me who it is." A sudden realisation hit her. "Is it Ann?"

Jack choked – apparently on pure oxygen. "Ann? Where the heck did you pull that one from?"

"You flirt with her –"

"I do not," he laughed, ruffling Jill's hair. "I mean, of course I love her. But I see her like I see you."

"Okay," she said shortly, apparently willing to let her theory go. Deep down, she didn't believe a word that was coming out of her brother's mouth. And she wasn't letting it go until she'd proved herself right.

**The next day.**

"– Couldn't really tell, I was _so_ sure it was some form of grass, and now I'm beginning to think –" Mary carefully tuned out Basil's voice, unwilling to listen to yet _another _dull story about the same thing. She tried to encourage and appreciate her father's passion, she really did. That was the only reason she still came on these Monday morning hikes; the only reason half her library was choked up with books on plants that were basically all composed to repeat the same information. But really, three solid hours of hearing him talk about it was asking a little _too_ much of her sanity.

"Basil, we've heard this story," her mother said impatiently – Anna never was one to show a great amount of tact. "Only twenty minutes ago."

"You haven't. That was completely different... _this _one ended up being –"

"Mom?" Mary interrupted, quite certain that she couldn't take much more. "I'm just going to go over... see that little clearing by the lake?"

"Be careful honey," Anna called, waving one hand dismissively. She'd become significantly less over-protective in recent weeks, and her daughter was relishing the change.

"Right," she muttered, making her escape with the sound of her parents still arguing behind her. She had to admit, they argued quite frequently, but... they really did seem happy together. She was a third of a cute, perfect little family, and she should be grateful for that... right?

She was. She _was_. But recently... she allowed herself a little sigh, absent-mindedly twirling her braid in between two fingers. It was beginning to seem like she was resigned to reading about other people's adventures in novels, never getting the opportunity to create her own experiences. That was okay. Not everyone was meant to have a big, novel-worthy life. Everyone wanted one, but obviously that couldn't be the case for every single person.

It kind of felt like she wanted it more than most people, though. Her parents, for example – seemed perfectly content to live and die in this little town. And... Mineral Town wasn't exactly a huge bundle of excitement. Was it wrong of her, or selfish of her, to want more than what had basically been assigned as her lot in life?

"Ugh," she muttered, pressing one hand to her forehead. It seemed like every time she let her thoughts move in _that_ direction, they'd automatically stray to Jack for a reason she couldn't fathom. That boy... he'd kept her awake many a restless night, with his annoying hints and double meanings for everything. Or maybe she read too much into their conversations, and found completely unintended double meanings herself –

"For _heaven's _sake, Tom," a slightly familiar female voice was suddenly hissing, interrupting her thoughts. "I'm _trying_. You know how close they are, you _know_ how hard it's going to be for –" the volume of her voice dropped just a little, enough to make the words hard to comprehend. Mary edged a little closer in its direction, peering around a large tree and gaining a clear view of Jack's sister and her husband. Both voices were much easier to understand now, even though they were deliberately speaking in hushed tones.

"– think I don't know all that?" Tom was saying, clearly exasperated. "I'm not expecting miracles, I _am _expecting results. Could you please try just a little harder to not start a fight every time you talk to Jill? Even better, do what we discussed and leave her to me! You can make amends with Jack, and I'll... do what's necessary to win Jill over."

Frowning slightly, Mary leaned right up to the tree as their voices dipped again. By the sounds of it, they were discussing how to make up with the siblings. Why all the secrecy, though?

"All I can do is try!" Veronica exclaimed suddenly, earning a sharp shushing noise from her husband. "Oh, give it a rest. We're not spies – and who is going to be up here at this hour, anyway? I don't even know why _I_ am, frankly. I'm going back to the inn. I don't care how long you are – but can you get some bread from the supermarket before you come back?" she added as a quick afterthought. Tom mumbled something that he obviously didn't have the audacity to say loudly, though his wife caught the gist and scowled at him before pivoting on her heel and storming away from the clearing.

Right in Mary's direction.

Forcing herself to muffle what would have been an _exceptionally_ unladylike curse, the librarian bolted off to the side, not exactly sure what she'd done wrong but getting the impression that their conversation wasn't something they were keen on sharing with the general public.

Veronica didn't even see Mary as she walked past, red curls forming a perfect frame around her face and eyes closed, as if she was trying to calm herself down.

Mary let herself exhale slowly, trying to figure out what was wrong with what she'd just heard. Of course, it sounded reasonable... naturally, Tom and Veronica would want to make amends with Jack and Jill. It would be a little pointless for them to come all the way to Mineral Town; spend so much time there... to end up _not _making up. But... that was hardly a situation deserving of the secrecy they were obviously aiming for, right?

"Goddess," Tom's voice muttered, making her turn quickly. He was running both hands through his dark hair in distress, watching the ground, though he looked up quickly as Mary made a sound. He attempted a smile. "Hey, Mary. What brings you up here?"

"With my family," she mumbled, unwilling to elaborate. Tom glanced around.

"Where? I don't see them."

"Over there," she said airily, gesturing over in a general direction. Tom shrugged.

"So you... come up here often?" he asked, tilting his head in a way that would have given the impression he was listening hard. "It's beautiful, isn't it? A lot of things in this town are." His handsome face broke into a grin, and Mary inwardly rolled her eyes, remaining silent. "So... I think I'll come by, visit the library later today."

"The library's closed on Mondays," she said dryly, actually once thankful for the fact. "What a shame."

"Yeah," he said, furrowing his brow and looking as if it was indeed a shame. "That's no good. I guess I'll be by on Tuesday anyway –" he ignored the exasperated groan that could have been rather more successfully disguised. "– so one day isn't going to be too much hassle. I guess I got to see you today anyway, didn't I?" he winked.

"You know what? I have to..."

"Mary!" a sharp voice called, making both of them jump. It was only then that Mary realised just how close the dark-haired man was standing to her. She took a noticeable and deliberately large step back.

"Mom," she called thankfully, seeing her mother stand several metres away with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Come on," she said, beckoning impatiently. Completely puzzled but more than thankful to make her escape, she hurried over to where her mother was standing, a shockingly displeased look on her face as she gave a look that could only be described as a glare at Tom. "Hurry _up_, dear," she continued through gritted teeth, placing one hand on her daughter's back and leading her down the steep path.

"I'll see you around, Mary," Tom called after them. He received a fleeting half-smile from the dark-haired girl and a set of disapproving, pursed lips from Anna.

"The insolence," Anna was muttering under her breath. "The total, complete insolence of that man – he's married, Mary. And I've heard no end of speculation about he and some of the other girls around town – I'd be so ashamed if all those rumours came back to my own daughter, dear. So ashamed."

"I can't think of anything less likely," Mary said incredulously.

"You seemed perfectly content talking to him over there. What I can't understand, is the way you refuse to take my hints towards... other young men..."

"Please tell me you're not talking about Jack _again._"

"He's such a delightful boy, Mary!"

"I –"

"He's handsome. Charming. He works hard, and for heaven's sake, your _father _likes him – and you know Basil never liked Gray –"

"Gray has nothing to do with this. Don't drag him into it," the librarian mumbled under her breath. Her mother didn't seem to notice, chatting away endlessly until they reached the forest by Gotz's house, and Basil had caught up behind the two of them. Anna gasped slightly, ever melodramatic, and reached out to squeeze her daughter's hand.

"Darling, fix your hair. Quickly. Your skirt isn't sitting straight, move it around a little. Oh, if he could have been here at the _start _of our walk when you looked quite pretty, not the end of it, when you look... well, it can't be helped."

"Who are you talking about?" Mary asked in a disinterested tone, though she could already tell by her mother's reaction. Sure enough, Jack was standing not too far away. He was chopping wood with most of his shirt unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal tanned, muscular arms. He had obviously been working hard for awhile, beads of sweat apparent on his brow despite the cold weather. It was a little confronting for Mary to realise how much her heart had sped up at the sight of him.

"Jack!" her mother called loudly, making Mary cringe and blush. Jack glanced up, puzzled, before flashing a cheeky smile directly at the librarian.

"Hey," he called in reply to the whole family. "You've been walking, huh?"

"Oh, I know," Anna said, sounding a little upset as she glanced down at her clothes. "It must be obvious."

"On the contrary," he said with a wink. "You look gorgeous."

"Ew," Mary whispered, watching her mother's cheeks colour slightly. Anna caught the sound, glancing sharply at Mary.

"Right, so, uh," she began, flustered. "Basil? Shall we? Of course, you stay here, darling." She swooped down to kiss her daughter's cheek. "Make sure to smile a lot," she instructed, bailing with her husband before Mary even realised what was going on.

"Can – what – where are you...?" Mary asked quickly, then sighed, glaring at Jack's feet. He had the usual smirk on his face.

"I don't know about you," he said slowly, setting the axe down and sitting on a nearby tree stump, "But I'm getting the feeling that your parents are trying to drop a hint to us."

"Be quiet," she groaned, going red yet again. "I swear, I have nothing to do with her... 'Plans', or whatever they qualify as."

"Hey, I like Anna. She's pretty cool... for a mom."

"Well, you _flirting _with her is one of the few things I really wish I'd never seen in my lifetime. Do you have _any _idea how disturbing that was for me?"

He grinned. "Yeah. I wanted to see your face." She glared at him. "That's the one. You've got an adorable angry face. It makes me want to annoy you constantly."

"Well, you're doing a pretty fine job of that," she muttered in reply. He raised an eyebrow, his grin growing wider, but she hurried on before he could say anything else. "Have you been working all morning?"

"An hour or two," he exhaled. "My sister walked past just a few minutes before you – did you see her on Mother's Hill?"

"I didn't speak to her," she said slowly, glancing at her hands. "I... talked to Tom, just for a moment. He's still up there."

"What?" Jack asked sharply, all humor abruptly leaving his face. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing. Goodness, calm down."

"I don't want him speaking to you," he said seriously with a deep frown. "Understand? Just... avoid him. He says anything to you, tell me about it and I'll sort him out."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Mary asked incredulously. "How is it any of your business whether I talk to him or not? Do you realise how ridiculous you sound?"

Jack bit his lip and looked like he was counting to himself before speaking. "Look... he can't be trusted. I'd hate to see you get too close to him."

"Why would you even assume that I'm _going _to?"

He sighed. "I'm just trying to look out for you, Mares. Please. I'm begging you. He's not the guy that he can make you believe he is. He'd be nothing but trouble for someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Trust me," he said, studying her intently. "It's a compliment."

"Oh," was all she could think to say, letting the dark hair that was loose from her braid swing in front of her face to hide her rapidly growing blush. He was grinning again, completely aware of her efforts.

"It's okay. You don't need to hide away. You've made _me_ blush many a time – nice to see I can do it back."

"I'm not blushing," she mumbled unconvincingly.

"It's cute. It humanizes you." She shot him a glare, blushing even further, and he paused. "You know what I've just noticed? Our conversations... they've gradually come to include fewer and fewer murder threats."

"You're going the right way towards changing that back around."

"I'm serious," he laughed. "I mean, I still get the 'I'm gonna kill you' glare frequently, but... if I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd softened up towards me."

"You've worn me down, is more like it."

"Either way works for me," he said with a nonchalant shrug. "Benefits are the same."

"Benefits," she scoffed disbelievingly. "That's a bit offensive. Don't objectify me, please."

"I couldn't if I tried," he said with a wink. "I'm far too scared of you." His gaze narrowed in contemplation as a sudden breeze travelled through the forest, whipping several strands of dark hair out of Mary's braid and into her face. She muffled an exasperated noise and brushed them back impatiently, with little success as they simply danced back out. Jack wordlessly stepped forward and hesitated, before removing the gold hairpin that had been pinning back the rest of her long fringe. A mass of hair fell unceremoniously into her face. Jack chuckled. "My God, Mary. Jill would die for hair like this."

"I'm sure," she said, scowling at the ground.

"No, I'm serious," he continued, ruffling her wild bangs before gathering it all – including the original strays – and pinning it gently into place. "She's always wanted really thick hair, and here _you_ have this amazing hair all tied back. Watch out... I'm surprised she hasn't thrown petrol and set a match to all your hairties, trying to force you to wear it out." He paused, inspecting her face closely. "Me... I think it looks nice both ways."

She laughed lightly, before blushing again. Damn Jack. It honestly shouldn't be in someone's power to make her blush as often as she did when she was around him. She cleared her throat. "I should... get home, then."

"I'll walk you there," he said immediately, moving the axe to the side with his foot.

"That's really not necessary –"

"You're a young lady," he said in a very, _very _poor English accent. "You can't walk unaccompanied."

"I don't need you to patronize me, thank you." She fixed him with an affronted glare, and he winced.

"Think about your mother, then. She went to all the effort to throw us together, I think it would be kind of nice for her to think it payed off slightly."

"She'll live," the librarian said dryly, beginning to walk away. Jack quickly jogged over, stepping in front of her and cutting her off, successfully ignoring the death-glare he received.

"Please?"

"Not if it's only to make my mother happy," she exhaled, before freezing, replaying her words in her head. What had it sounded like she'd been hinting at, exactly? That it would make _her _happy? Oh.

Jack had a peculiar look on his face, like he was noticing something different about her. "Okay," he said slowly, measuring his words before letting them out. "I _want _to walk you home."

"No, I – I don't know what I meant by that, honestly," she stuttered, flushing red in mortification. "Don't think for a second that I was asking you to –"

"I want to walk you home," he repeated, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. In all honesty, it _was_ probably a lot simpler than the furious blush on the librarian's face would indicate. He seemed a little amused as he continued. "There you go. I _don't_ just want to make sure your mother has some new gossip, I'm _not_ really all that concerned for your safety in a place like Mineral Town. I'm not that polite, truth be told. I want to walk you home for my own selfish reasons, because spending time with you is..." It was his turn to blush, Mary noticed in mild interest. "... Interesting."

"Interesting."

He nodded and shrugged. "But if you don't want me to walk you, don't feel pressured –"

"You can walk me, but I'd like to be home _before _the end of the season... I'm not going to be if we stand here for much longer."

"Right," he grinned, extending an elbow to her. Mary raised an exasperated eyebrow at him, and he began to pout at the apparent rejection. She couldn't help but smile, shaking her head in self-disbelief as she reached out and linked her arm through his.

**xxx**

Jill shook her head hopelessly as she caught sight of her brother, locked in what looked like a relatively serious conversation with Mary as they crossed her path, not even noticing her. She was standing out the front of the inn, debating whether or not to confront Ann about her 'feelings' for Jack – it was becoming slowly apparent to her that they weren't exactly reciprocated, especially watching the way Jack behaved around the dark-haired librarian. But... she sighed out loud. She didn't want to see Ann get hurt. She wanted to see Jack happy. She didn't want a _drama _made out of this... but there almost certainly would be one.

Then again... if either of them could tie Jack down, it would literally be a first. His longest girlfriend had lasted, maybe... three weeks? Two weeks? Not a long time, that much was certain. He'd had quantity... there was a surprising number of girls willing to date him even though they knew how it would undoubtedly end... but no quality. He really had seemed different since coming here, though. She sighed, shook herself back out of daydreaming, and walked into the inn.

"Goddess, _her_ again," Ann muttered in a rather loud voice. The blonde stuck her tongue out.

"Don't get too confident. You've got some questions to answer."

"Oh, good," the waitress managed, grimacing. "Tell me it's not about Jack again." She received a severe nod, and exhaled loudly. She then walked over to Jill, lowering her voice. "Look... you let your imagination run away with you sometimes. Heck, there's nothing wrong with that – I do, too. But I swear... me? And Jack? Your imagination doesn't bother to pace itself, Jill. It wants to sprint a whole freaking marathon, and eventually, it'll crash and burn."

Jill blinked at her. "Right, so... nope. Sorry. I haven't got a clue what you're talking about."

"Ugh. That could've been a fantastic metaphor if I hadn't gotten all mixed up and said it wrong. Hold on, I'll think of how to word it properly."

"Nu-uh. You're not getting out of this that easily."

"I think what I meant to say was –"

"ANN!"

The redhead sighed and sat down at a table, beckoning for Jill to take the seat opposite. "Look, I... I don't know where all this came from, but I promise you, your brother and I aren't like that."

"I can't see who else it would be."

"JILL!" It was her turn to explode. "Who ever said that there was someone else? I know that I've denied it every time you've asked, and I _think _I would know."

"Then what's going on with Cliff?"

"I don't know! Some days there's... something, other days, there's nothing. That doesn't mean that there automatically has to be anyone else, okay?" She finished her spiel, and groaned as Jill simply looked at the floor. "You still don't believe me, do you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does, actually. You and Jack are two of my best friends, and I don't want an over-active imagination coming between all that. Please?"

"But why –"

"Even _if _there was something... feelings I had for Jack," she said slowly, "My friendship with him... means too much to even attempt at making it anything more. I'm not saying I do have feelings, okay?" Jill's eyes widened, but she nodded meekly. Ann sighed. "Right. Look, I... I have to go work. Stay awhile if you want." Still shaking her head, she walked away into the kitchen.

Choosing to blatantly ignore the rest of their conversation as she sat there, chin in her hand, Jill instead focused on Ann's last words. _Even if there was something... feelings I had for Jack, my friendship with him... means too much to even attempt at making it anything more. _So Ann was scared. Absent-mindedly running her fingers over the glass vase in front of her, she thought carefully. Ann... must have feelings for Jack. Right now, it didn't look as if they were returned, but... if Ann didn't want anything to happen, there wouldn't be a problem, right?

From an outside perspective, Jill was taking it all way up out of proportion – after all, Ann had been completely adamant that she didn't have feel that way about Jack, and a normal person would take her word for it.

No-one _had_ ever described Jill as normal, though.

**xxx**

**Alright, guys. Move along to the next chapter!**


	38. Chapter 38

**If you're anything like me and don't bother checking the chapter number, just go to the last chapter when there's an update… this one was a double update, so 37 is new as well. If you've already finished 37, go right ahead and read (and hopefully enjoy) this one :)**

**xxx**

The day so far had been a long one for Zack – Wednesdays always were, bringing endless shipments of medicinal herbs to the doctor – but it was slightly unusual for him to be _quite_ so worn out by eleven in the morning. And the day was far from over, he admitted to himself with a groan.

Hoisting two large boxes up, both containing supplies for the supermarket, Zack nodded to Won and used his shoulder to shove the front door open. Squinting in the glaring winter sunlight, he could barely register where he was going until he collided with someone a good deal smaller than him rather heavily at the entrance to Rose Square.

"Crap," he muttered in despair as the boxes hit the ground and countless packets of rice, chocolate, flour... a rather peculiar mix... hit the ground and scattered. There was a tiny apologetic gasp from whoever he'd crashed into, and he glanced down. His jaw dropped open.

"I'm so sorry," the red haired girl was insisting in a musical voice, flashing her brilliant white teeth in an apologetic smile and clasping both hands in front of her. "I wasn't watching where I was going..."

"That's, uh... great... fine," he mumbled, slightly dazed. The girl in front of him was one of the most beautiful things he'd seen in his life – dark blue eyes, framed by thick, dark lashes... flawless skin, immaculate loose curls in her red hair. He was cruelly torn from his reverie at the disheartening sound of a masculine laugh behind them.

"Veronica," Jack scolded in an amused voice, walking up to the pair. "Look what you've done. Sorry about her, Zack. She's generally co-ordinated, but on occasion, she'll show about the same level of motor skills as Jill."

"That's, uh... yeah." Giving up any idea of stringing together an understandable sentence, he quickly ducked and began stacking the undamaged goods back into boxes. Veronica and Jack joined in, playfully teasing each-other the whole time. Finally, everything was cleaned up and sorted out. Zack nodded immediately and walked away without another word, still blushing.

"My Goddess, Veronica," Jack smiled, shaking his head. "The way you have all men wrapped around your little finger is almost supernatural. If we could bottle that talent..."

"Oh, stop," she blushed. "It's a bit of a burden, to tell you the truth. I wouldn't call myself lucky because of that." Jack smirked, and she narrowed her eyes at him, playing with a strand of her hair. "So... what are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to the library," he answered, looking as if he was very interested in something happening over her shoulder. Veronica's eyes widened and she clapped her hands together in excitement.

"That cute little librarian? And _you_?"

"It's not exactly like that. Besides, she would kill you if she knew you'd called her cute. And I happen to like fine literature, thank you."

"You also happen to like fine _women_ –" she flinched instinctively, expecting Jack to hit her. As it were, he fixed her with an unamused glare. "Oh, come on. Give me some credit. It's not often I can shut you down. I want to make the most of this moment."

"Moment over."

"Hey, that's not fair. I –" Veronica cut herself off mid-sentence, biting her bottom lip as she noticed something behind Jack. "You're-right-moment-over-I-have-to-go-bye." She rushed her words out in an almost unintelligible blur, and then dashed out of Rose Square as fast as her painful looking shoes would allow her to.

"What the –" Jack muttered, wondering what on earth could have made his sister bail out on him like that.

"J-_a_-ack!" A shrill, all too familiar voice called excitedly. Jack felt a tug at his stomach as he slowly rotated, hoping if he took enough time, the person in question would vanish. No such luck.

Manna.

"Hi," he choked with a weak smile, knowing all too well what he was in for. Just the idea of the earache he would no doubt have the next day made him wince. "How are you?" _No! No, you idiot! Never ask that! NEVER ask that! Do you WANT to be here until the New Year? _He mentally slapped himself as Manna set out on a verbal storm.

"– price of fish!" she announced a good few minutes later. "It's absolutely ridiculous, but yes, apart from those things, I'm quite well. And you? Oh, but you don't need to answer that," she said with a wink. "I remember that new love-struck feeling perfectly well. Nothing in the whole world could faze me, and I'm sure it's the same for you isn't that right? Of course, Mary _is _a lovely girl – too quiet, a little plain, truth be told, but if a handsome young man like you likes her, I'm thrilled. Now, tell me truthfully Jack, because you know you can trust me to keep a lid on it until you're ready to announce... what's really going on there?" She finished with a beaming smile, and Jack seemed to struggle with returning it.

"I... can't answer that," he said eventually. "I don't know what Mary would want me to tell you... if you wanted a straight answer, you'd have to ask her."

"Oh, I certainly will," she said, looking positively thrilled that she hadn't received a flat-out refusal that there was anything going on. "I was just saying to my Duke the other day that you were a nice young boy, and I said, 'All boys like him deserve a good woman to take care of them.' At the time, I was thinking maybe Popuri, or Elli – though she's in a relationship with the good Doctor, isn't she? And Popuri is still so hung up on Kai, the darling – speaking of which, did you hear that Kai isn't coming back for a few years? And the other day, Sasha told me that Anna told her that Basil told her that Saibara told him that... well, someone told him that Kai's gone off to join the army. The _army_, I was amazed. Never seemed like the type, and –"

Jack snorted, amused by the idea of the carefree traveller taking strict orders and living under such discipline. He was fairly certain that Manna dreamed up most of these scenarios, and convinced herself that the information was real. She was still speaking, but Jack cut her off eventually. "I'm going to the library," he said, hoping to pacify her with the information. Sure enough, her eyes lit up.

"Oh! I'll let you go, then, you've just reminded me that I have something to do as well. Take care, darling." She rushed off in front of him, mumbling to herself about telling Anna something. Cringing as he anticipated the interested glances he would be receiving from the town gossips over the next few days, he ducked into the inn as a quick detour before the library.

"Annnnnn..." he dragged the redhead's name out, walking over to where she was speaking to her father in a low voice, looking reasonably annoyed. Doug glanced up, eyes twinkling with something like amusement when he recognized Jack.

"Jack! Good to see you! You don't come around here enough, you know. You're disappointing my daughter, staying away like this." Ann's jaw clenched and she balled her fists, the expression on her face showing that she was just about ready to knock her own father unconscious.

"Dad," she warned, her teeth still clenched tightly. "Seriously, I only have slight reservations about breaking your face."

"Okay, okay," Doug chuckled, holding his hands up defensively. "I'll leave you kids alone. And incidentally Ann, I don't think you're going to find a man who _isn't_ a masochist that's brave enough to date you when you have that attitude."

"Have we not just discussed my views on dating?" she asked, her face – not reddening, more like purple-ing. He rolled his eyes, winked at the two of them, and hurried into the kitchen, probably beginning to realise how genuine Ann's threats were. Jack looked a little scared, and he raised an eyebrow at the waitress.

"Should I come back wearing a protective helmet?"

"Shut up," she mumbled, sitting down at the bar and looking remarkably similar to the depressed drunks who sat there nightly, pouring out their problems. "I'm just... Goddess-_damn_ it to hell, I'm so _confused_!"

"Jeez, calm down," he begged, looking genuinely worried. "Do you need a drink? Or, like... drugs?"

"Yes please," she sighed. Her hands were clenched on the bench-top in front of her, and she bowed her head to rest on them wearily. "I just... I can talk to you, right?" Jack nodded at her wordlessly, and she sighed. "I... don't know what to do about Cliff. I mean, half the time... fine, three-quarters of the time, I just want to _strangle _him for no reason at all. He doesn't provoke me. For heaven's sake, he doesn't _do _anything!" Her face softened suddenly. "And then, that's half the reason I fell for him... and occasionally, I'll just be blown away by what a sweet guy he is. And it is _driving _me _crazy_. I've never... you know, I'm not the relationship-y type, and... ugh. Your sister's making things worse, by the way, but she doesn't realise. She thinks I've got feelings for you."

"Right," Jack snorted. "Don't stress. You know Jill. She thinks that she's good at helping other people's relationships, but struggles with her own... in reality, she fails no matter who she's trying to help out." He managed a small grin out of Ann at least, then he tilted his head to the side. "So what's going on with your dad?"

"Oh, him," she growled. "He thinks the whole freaking thing is absolutely hilarious. I actually tried to talk to him about Cliff, tried to explain it, and he just laughed and muttered something about wishing Mom was here. So do I, truthfully – maybe another, older woman could help me make some sense out of it."

"Well, as long as you know that Manna's always willing to lend a helping hand," Jack grinned. The look he received in return was one of reluctant amusement. "Look, I'd... give you advice myself, but I'm just like Jill when it comes to this. I always manage to stuff things up, and the only difference between us is that _I_ realise it; she doesn't. Truth be told, your dilemma isn't totally clear to me. I mean... what do you have to make a choice between? Killing him and not killing him?"

"I don't know whether I want to try a proper relationship," she admitted, blushing slightly. She hesitated for a few moments, then her eyes widened in horror. "Goddess, I thought I'd be dead before I came to you about relationship problems." She stood up abruptly. "I have to work, and I'm sure you have somewhere to be, Mister Popularity."

"I do, actually," he admitted. "I just came in here as a detour, hoping to smooth-talk my way into a free drink, and instead I get your life's sob story. Gosh. Is there no justice in the world?"

"Leave, or there'll be no Jack Evans' in the world," she warned. Jack shot her a final grin, nodded in an attempt at 'gentleman-like' and ducked out the door.

**xxx**

He truly didn't know _how _he got so sidetracked. It had been about eleven-thirty that he'd set out for the library, and it was now... he checked his watch. One o'clock. After his meeting with Ann, he'd literally run into Veronica again, making her fall and hurt her ankle. He'd carried her to the clinic and waited with her until Tim gave her the all clear. She was fine now – walking perfectly – but, no matter how little she weighed, carrying her all the way from the inn to the clinic was tiring. And _now _he was standing in front of the library's door, just about ready to fall asleep on the spot. He wearily shoved the door with his left arm.

"... Can't see why you're not putting in more effort, I –" Mary cleared her throat loudly and her mother stopped talking, spinning on the spot. Jack waved weakly.

"Good _afternoon_, Jack," Anna said with a wide smile. "I was just leaving. You two be good." She rushed out the door, the smile still on her face, and Jack turned back to Mary.

He swallowed nervously. She had been sitting at her desk with a blank expression and her hands folded neatly in front of her; now she stood up and walked directly in front of him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Jack Evans."

"Why is everyone using my last name today?" he whined. Mary raised an eyebrow, daring him to interrupt her again. He abruptly shut up. She looked quite literally dangerous, her dark eyes flashing.

"How," she began slowly, "Am I meant to go home tonight?"

"... I'm too scared to be sarcastic."

"My so-called mother," the librarian spat, "Is over there, planning my _wedding._"

"_Oh_. Cool. You know, Jill's going to have a hissy fit if she isn't the maid of honor." He trailed off meekly, staring at his hands. Mary took a deep breath, teeth gritted together.

"If you truly don't realize that now is not the time…"

"Okay, okay," he cut in, holding both hands up defensively. "Don't have a heart-attack on me. I didn't do anything. Manna confronted me and asked what was going on between us. I told her to ask you."

"_Why_ would you do that?"

"I didn't know what you would want me to say."

"You should have denied it!"

The look on Jack's face shocked her – genuine hurt. He raised both eyebrows. "You don't think there's anything going on here?"

If possible, his question shocked her more than his reaction. She glanced to the side, blushing and not quite sure how this had turned around to put _her _in a difficult situation. Goddess, she didn't know what to say. Talk about being put on the spot. "W-well, I –" she cut off thankfully as the front door opened and ducked around Jack to greet whoever had saved her. While she bit her lip as she recognized her visitor, she smiled nevertheless. "Good afternoon, Tom."

Tom looked a little confused, no doubt due to the fact that she was suddenly greeting him on her own terms after two weeks of forced conversation. He grinned back. "Hey, Mary. What's up?"

"I'm happy to see you here," she said, actually being truthful. "Can I help you get a book?" _Please? _She added mentally. _Get me away from this situation. _The thrilled expression on Tom's face showed how unexpected this sudden attention was, and that he really didn't mind it. A low, indignant noise sounded in Jack's throat and he firmly took Mary's elbow.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, obviously not caring what her answer was as he wheeled her to the other side of the library. She flinched at the livid expression on his face. "What are you doing? Do you have any idea how _low _that scumbag is?"

"Jack, I have to help out my customers," she muttered, trying to step around him, to no avail. He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and inclined his head to her level, maintaining intense eye-contact.

"_It_ is not a customer. _It_ is the devil in a customer's body."

"_He_'s a customer," she exhaled, growing impatient at his over-the-top attitude. "Let go of me." Jack regretfully obeyed, watching with a deep scowl on his face as she walked back to Tom, more than a little flustered. "Uh… you had a book yesterday, didn't you? Would you like that one again?"

"No thank you," he said with a charming grin that showed off all of his perfect teeth. "I think I'd like to try something else. Maybe one with a larger basis on historical events?"

"I've got some that might meet your requirements," Mary said quietly, turning to face away from him. She glanced up the shelves, her eye landing on some books right up the top. Dragging a step ladder over, she cautiously climbed up onto it and started gathering books in her arms. Jack was taking slow breaths, trying to calm himself down after his inexplicable loss of temper. His eyes fixed on the dark-haired man for just a few moments.

Tom had an eyebrow raised and an admiring smirk on his face, tilting his head to the left ever so slightly as he watched the librarian with her back to him, his eyes fixed rather lower than could be deemed appropriate by anyone's standards. He was vaguely aware of a low sound; almost a growl… from somewhere near him… before he found himself roughly pinned against the back wall by a furious farmer.

"You son of a _bitch_," Jack hissed, wrenching on Tom's collar. "What in the Goddess's name gives you the freaking _right_… how _dare _you even dream of looking at her like that? I'll show you –"

"Goddess, Jack!" Mary called sharply, quickly dropping the books on the floor and running to his side, ineffectively tugging on his arm. "Jack, let go of him this _second_!"

"Apologize to her right now!" he roared, ignoring the librarian and shoving Tom again. That man was going to have one hell of a bruise in the morning.

"Jack, come _on_! Outside, please!" The tearful note in her voice seemed to break through his rage and he blinked down at her. "Let go of him – come outside – I'm _begging _you, Jack…"

He slowly dropped Tom who immediately began massaging his neck, breathing heavily. Jack shot him a look of pure hatred before following Mary outside.

"What the hell was that?" she asked as soon as the library door had closed behind them, her usually composed voice bordering on hysterics. "I can't believe what you just did!"

"He was looking at you like you were –"

"That is _my_ problem, _not_ yours," she whispered dangerously. "I never want to see you do that again, do you understand?"

"I'm not going to stand by and –"

"This is my work!" she burst out. "This library is all I have! My independence, my… my escape! Not some… boxing ring to display your manly pride, or whatever the heck that was in there! If you can't promise me that you'll never do that again, I… I have to ask you not to come to the library anymore. Promise me." Her eyes behind her glasses were very nearly overflowing with tears, and she stared at him beseechingly. Jack stared back, taking deep breaths. He slowly shook his head.

"No."

Mary's face fell even further, and a single tear spilled down her cheek. "W-what?"

"No. I won't promise you that. The only thing I can promise is that if that –" he spat an expletive that made the librarian wince, "– looks at you like that even once more, I'll impair his vision so seriously that he'll never see you again."

She stared at him for a few minutes – a long time, really – before slowly biting her lip and glancing at the ground. "Then… I have to ask you not to come back."

"Don't be –"

"Jack. Don't. Until you promise, I don't want you here."

He glanced at the sky, laughing bitterly for a moment before fixing his gaze firmly on her. "Fine." He turned on his heel and walked away quickly, leaving the librarian in the doorway, resting her head in one hand wearily.

**xxx**

Veronica bit her lip cautiously, throwing a glance down the narrow stairway once again. That idiot brother of hers… he'd clumsily knocked her down, she'd hurt her ankle, and now… walking wasn't the most simple thing in the world. Stairs were a lot worse. She couldn't be mad at Jack; he'd stayed with her at the clinic for over an hour… but foot injuries were so inconvenient. It was kind of looking like she was stuck upstairs for the day.

"Are you okay?" a puzzled male voice asked from behind her. Straining her neck to see who it was without moving her body, she smiled radiantly at Gray.

"Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm okay. Just trying to figure out how to get downstairs." She laughed softly. "I'm not seeing a practical solution."

She received an apprehensive look, as Gray struggled with her words. "Uh… wouldn't you… you know, walk down?"

His words set the redhead into a fit of giggles. "Riiiight. Sorry, I didn't explain that properly. I hurt my ankle earlier, so…" the blacksmith's eyes travelled from her bandaged foot, not taking any weight, to her right arm braced against the wall for support. He nodded, blushing slightly.

"I… yeah, that makes sense. Ah – do you need help?"

Her eyebrows went up as she contemplated his offer. "That might work. I'm fine getting _up _stairs, and I can walk on level ground, but for some reason… going downstairs is almost impossible. Could you just…" she held out one arm and he slowly walked over, taking it and guiding her down the first stair. "Goddess," she muttered immediately, shaking her head. "Sorry… it's not going to work. I just… can't walk downstairs on it. I'll have to…" she trailed off, staring at Gray in contemplation. He stared back suspiciously.

"What?"

"I'm just thinking…" she ducked her head, a blush seemingly crossing her perfect face. "It's… oh, but I can't ask. Never mind."

"Veronica."

She hesitated, before grinning and shaking her head in disbelief. "I… was just wondering if it would be too weird for me to ask you to carry me down. I would ask Tom, but Heaven knows where he is…"

Completely silent, Gray could only frown. "It might be weird, yeah."

"Oh," she said immediately, voice and smile faltering. "Yeah, of course. Don't worry. I'll just –" she attempted to take another step and cringed, crumpling slightly. Cursing under his breath, Gray moved closer and wordlessly lifted her bridal-style. She laughed, embarrassed. "You don't have to…"

He grunted in reply, his face redder than should humanly be possible. As he made his way down, he hazily realized that twenty stairs had never seemed so long. Goddess, did they go on forever? He abruptly put her down as soon as he reached the bottom stair, perhaps a little more roughly than necessary. She simply laughed again, hobbling over to a nearby table and still managing to look graceful as she did it.

"Come on," she giggled, waving him over. He halfheartedly walked to stand near her, not sitting down, when the sound of the door being pushed open caught his attention. He turned quickly to see Jill in the doorway. She gave him a quick, tired wave and crossed the room to say something to Ann in a low voice. The waitress immediately looked concerned, but Jill shook her head, obviously trying to stay composed.

"Hold on," he muttered to Veronica, who looked rather sulky as he walked over to Jill. "Hey. What's going on?"

"Hey," Jill said warmly, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him and falling miserably short. He chuckled and slipped his arms around her waist, ducking down so Jill could actually reach his lips.

Ann made a gagging noise, forcing them to break apart and glare at her. Gray turned back to Jill, his forehead creased. "Everything fine?"

"Oh… yeah, I guess… it's just Jack," she admitted. "He just came home in the most terrible mood… nearly ripped the door off its hinges, and he wouldn't talk to me about whatever was wrong. I've hardly ever seen him in a really bad mood, and he's not the most fun person to be around when it happens."

"He was here," Ann said, shaking her head, "But he was fine. Maybe something went wrong on the farm that you don't know about?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, rubbing her eyes. "Gosh, I'm so tired. I've got this… guilty feeling constantly, but I don't think I've done anything wrong."

"Better hope not," Gray joked, kissing the top of her hair lightly. She scowled playfully, but her scowl turned into a real one and she rolled her eyes at the sight of her sister, watching them in interest from across the room. Veronica smiled at her, and Jill glanced away determinedly. "Jill," Gray said quietly, witnessing the exchange and shaking his head.

"What?" she replied defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. Ann placed a hand on Jill's shoulder in a show of support.

"Besides, it isn't like she's ignoring her," Ann said slyly. "She just, uh… didn't see her."

"Jill. Jill? Jill? Jill!" Veronica called, trying valiantly to gain her sister's attention and apparently remaining oblivious to the fact that she was being snubbed. The blonde, gritting her teeth, finally turned around as her sister became louder and louder.

"What do you _want_?"

"Come here, please?" Jill unfolded her arms and stormed over, crossing them again and standing defiantly in front of Veronica.

"Do you think everything's fine between us?" Jill asked suddenly, before her sister could begin speaking. "Because, just to warn you, it's not. So if you called me over here to make small talk, you can think again. I don't_ like _you, okay?"

The redhead bit her lip and glanced at the table, her eyes bright. "Okay."

"Do you still need to say something?" Veronica shook her head meekly and her sister snorted, beginning to walk off, before she suddenly stood up.

"Actually, yes. I do have something to say."

Sighing again, Jill turned around. "What."

"I think you're the one in the wrong," she said, her voice trembling the slightest bit. "I think you're… making me out to be the bad guy, when I'm the one who's at least trying to make this better. And… you know, I think you're being a hypocrite."

"Excuse me?" the blonde hissed, a sharp edge to her voice. "If you can honestly think for one second that what you did doesn't deserve –"

"That's the thing, though," she replied simply. "You're so mad at me for taking Tom… when we both know that it would be no holds barred if you got the chance to take him back." Without a word, Jill stepped towards her sister aggressively. Gray reflexively pulled her back, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Come on," he mumbled, turning her to lead her away. Her whole body was shaking with fury, her face bright red as she stared at Veronica.

"Gray," Ann interrupted, running up to him and tapping his arm. "Let me go outside with Jill. You're a lot more patient than I am – you leave me here, and I'll probably end up punching that little brat. Can I…?"

"Yeah," he shrugged wearily, watching as Ann and Jill stormed out together. He turned back to Veronica who was sitting down again and looking rather pale.

"I can't control my damn mouth," she mumbled, digging the nails of her left hand into the palm of her right hand. Gray glowered at her, and she raised two pleading eyebrows. "I'm sorry."

"Don't say that to me," he said coldly. "Jill's the one you owe an apology to."

"She frustrates me, though! You must see how difficult she can be –"

"If you're expecting me to say anything against her, you're going to be sorely disappointed."

She sighed. "Yeah, okay. Fair enough."

"I'm going to go check if Jill's okay," he said, still distant. He turned to walk out the front door, but Veronica reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Hey, can you… tell her I'm sorry for what I said," she asked, giving his hand a squeeze. Gray shot her a doubtful look, but nodded sharply before walking away.

She sighed and rested her head in her hands. She… wasn't truly sorry for what she'd said to Jill, although Tom was going to have something to say about it once he found out. She didn't want Gray thinking any less of her – and that wasn't exactly logical, when in perspective, he had nothing to do with anything.

**xxx**

From the moment Veronica and Tom had showed up in Mineral Town, it was inevitable that things were going to change.

But… perhaps nobody realized just _how_ big a difference their actions were going to make in the coming weeks.

**xxx**

**xD… let me know what you thought. I'll do my best to get the next one up soon enough.**

**By the way, I'm just wondering if you guys have a… detailed impression of Tom, in terms of appearance. I have a very solid idea in my mind, but I think I've kind of left it up to interpretation… haven't described it all that clearly. Hmm. **


	39. Chapter 39

**Sorry once again for how long this took. I'm getting to be extremely unreliable. Don't abandon me! I promise – or I'll do my best to promise – that I'll write and upload the next chapter within two weeks. HOPEFULLY.**

**Because I'm so desperate to get this up, I'll just go straight to review replies and spare you my life story.**

**The Scarlet Sky** – _Aw, thank you so much. If I've improved, it's thanks to all the feedback I've gotten since I started this. I know... there's a lot going on, and sometimes I wonder if it fries all my reader's brains. I can sometimes struggle, even though I know where I'm going... but I guess we all get writer's block, and all I can hope is that I don't give all of you reader's block xD._

**CabiidO** – _Thanks for the cookie :) you give such lovely feedback, it really makes me smile when I read your reviews._

**kelley28** _– I think she might be growing up a little, but I also think that she loves Tom which makes her kind of evil by default. Haha. I'll work on finding a way to throw Tom off a cliff._

**CrystallineHands** – _Uh... –cough- what? Heh. We'll see where it goes, will we?_

**DemonDude12** – _Glad you liked the double update! I feel terrible for Rick... I don't know what to think of him, now. I mean – he's heartbroken, you know? Sorry this has been such a long wait as well._

**AsianFlipGurl **– _I love Jack as well... he can be reasonably overprotective, right? He's kind of an uncontrollable flirt, but I think that's just his way of being friendly. xD. Tom and Veronica are reasonably quiet in this chapter – well, Veronica is – so look forward to more and more drama in the next one!_

**Random Jelly Beans** – _LOL. Pity you didn't kick me into gear to get this one done faster. Red eyes for Tom... Hahaha. When I think about it, that's how I picture them too. –Plots fanart- Ahh, I don't think Mary knew quite what to do... she hasn't really been in that position before, shockingly enough. It hurt MY head trying to work out how I'd end everything, but now that I have, it should be good. Thanks so much!_

**ZombieDragon** – _Oh, I'm so sorry. I hope you're okay now, or at least able to work through it. Things like that are so painful, I know. Feel better, alright? And thank you for the review :)_

**technologychic29** – _I know, I'd be pushing Jack out of the way and bash Tom up myself... but I guess Mary and I don't really share a personality xD. I might be overly violent too._

**Ekoaleko** – _LMAO. I looked up the word doppelganger after your review, and then spent the next week dropping the word in conversation and putting down all my friends who didn't know what it meant. 'Cause I'm cool like that. Thank you so much – that's such a compliment :) :) I hope you're still reading and didn't die of old age in the time it took me to update._

**BeautifulAuthor** – _Thank you! I'm so happy you left a review. I seem to leave a few cliffhangers without exactly meaning to :S_

**Ultra Drama Queen** – _Haha! Yeah, if I was Mary, there's no way I would have kicked Jack out. But I'm not Mary, I just write her. Which... kind of makes me take the blame... augh. You'll hate Tom much more soon enough, I promise XD. Thank you so much for reviewing._

**ICan'tDecideWhatMyPenNameIs** –_ If you can't decide, maybe you should make it a bit shorter? Kidding! I made my mind up on the final pairings a while ago... and some of them might not be what you expect, but the ones that you think are going to be unexpected might be the ones that are exactly what you thought they would be... or something. I don't know what I'm saying._

**nasherol** – _I agree, JackxAnn gets a lot more love than JackxMary does. Hopefully you'll be happy with the end of the story :)_

**riklos23243** – _Tom's not the best. He's kind of a try hard evil mastermind, who still manages to mess things up pretty badly all the while. That's exactly what nasherol said – MaryxJack is quite uncommon now, and it's nice to see them together. Thank you!_

**stateofmind7337** – _Hey, when you have reviewers block, you can still make me laugh. When I have reviewers block, I do the... 'That was cute. Nice chapter. I loved it.' SO original. I don't even throw a mention to homicidally angry monkeys and dancing parrots. I don't think Veronica is even IN this chapter, so... we'll have to wait until the next one to see if her bitchiness meter is still falling for you. Thanks for the review!_

**melii101** – _Oh, I'm so happy I can help SOMEONE get away from doing homework – apart from myself. My teachers don't know what to do with me, 'cause I can't make excuses... I don't think 'I had to update my fanfiction!' would go over too well with them. Thank you times a million for avoiding homework and reviewing instead :)_

**RyanMan14** – _LOL. Thank you so much. I don't think I will ask; I've got no idea what 'Faces of Evil' is! XD_

**Marty** –_ Thank you!_

**Cryptic** **Love** – _I like the penname! Don't worry about not noticing it was updated, they're becoming few and far between. -worries- I've got to get back into writing more frequently. LOL at your description of Tom. OMG that's how I see him too! Hahaha – I'd hate to have a mother as enthusiastic as Mary's is._

**Jean Cooper** – _Jill has a majorly overactive imagination. Thank you so much for your help :) FIRST!_

**Bobsies** – _Yeah, there's a few people who aren't super fond of our darling Veronica. You are apparently one of them! And yeah, Tom... that's how I see him too. Ridiculously attractive, and the perfect guy at a first glance. Thanks!_

**Babybear** – _Oh, I think I can promise you that I'll finish this story. It might take a few months, but it WILL get finished one way or another. Thank you so much – I don't deserve you to be so nice!_

**Devilishduck** – _Gray didn't get much of a cameo at all in chapter 37, did he? He's... faded into the background a little bit at the moment, but Jill and Gray's relationship is going to be the main thing again reasonably soon. Heh – Jack's a little too 'manly' for his own good, sometimes. XD._

**SOSNoel** – _Where did you go? I missed you! LOL – I haven't taken my sneaky picture yet. Soon... soooooooooooon... hopefully you can keep up to date now, and don't go away again any time soon!_

**xxx**

"Jack."

"I'm fine," he groaned, knowing full well what the following question was sure to be. After all, Jill had been asking it non-stop for the past three days. The blonde glared at him sharply. He was sitting on the couch, staring blankly at a documentary on the television, while she was perched on the edge of her bed.

"You are _not_."

"If you really thought I wasn't, you wouldn't bother asking."

"That was just out of politeness. Jack, what's _wrong_? You never sulk like this!"

"I'm not sulking."

"Right," she growled, pushing herself up and striding across the room to take his face in-between her hands. "You know you would never let me get away with something like this – what kind of sister am I if I let you?" He opened his mouth to reply but she quickly clamped one small hand over it. "I don't want to hear it. Listen to me. Obviously, you're not going to tell me what's upset you – and yeah, that annoys me, but I'll get over it. What's important to me is that you're okay." Her face softened and she ruffled his hair with the hand that had been preventing him from talking. "Please. Tomorrow's the last day of Fall... and we all know that everyone gets a little depressed in winter, no matter what."

"I don't get depressed in winter," he scowled. "There's nothing wrong with winter. Summer's the problem. It's too hot." His sister grinned, seeing a little of his spirit returning.

"You're such a baby. Summer's brilliant."

Rolling his eyes, Jack forced himself not to answer – it would undoubtedly result in a meaningless argument and more stress for Jill. He felt bad for making her worry about him the past few days, but... there wasn't anything wrong with him, just because he hadn't been out much. There just wasn't anything to _do _apart from sit around the house. The first day, he'd spent his time worrying about leaving Mary alone with Tom... but imagining the possible outcomes had nearly done his head in and made him fly up to the library in a violent rage – and if he'd been 'banned' over reacting to something that was clearly serious, he didn't think Mary would take an unprovoked attack on the slimeball too well.

Goddess, it drove him crazy that she'd been so quick to _defend _Tom. In all honesty, Mary was... an attractive girl, and Jack highly doubted that there was a boy in Mineral Town who hadn't... admired from afar. But the disgusting, enticed expression on Tom's face had been... _ugh_! He slammed his fist into the side of the couch violently, only to realise that Jill was still hovering over him, wide-eyed.

"Okay, okay," she said quickly, sounding nervous. "Winter isn't so bad. Don't get so worked up."

He had to smile. "Sorry, I was... thinking..."

"About?"

"Football." _Football? Football? Goddess, man..._

"Football."

"Uh... sure, I guess. Why not?"

"Umm." Jill hesitated, unsure whether it was a rhetorical question or not. She answered him anyway. "Because... you haven't seen a football game... played football... heard a word mentioned about it since you came here. That's over a year without it, and you're choosing to get angry about something now."

"Exactly," he sighed, highly doubting that the energy lying drained him of was worth sparing Jill the worry she was sure to feel if he told her about his newfound murderous tendencies towards her ex-boyfriend. "It's been so long since I've seen a game." _And I couldn't care less. _"I'd kill to get the sporting channels on this television." _Yeah. Kill Tom._

"Maybe a visit back to the city would do you some good," Jill sighed, tilting her head to the side. Jack blinked up at her, confused at her train of thought. "You know... we only have a season and a half to figure out whether or not you're taking the company."

Jack's breath hitched in his throat and he struggled to imagine that life. He wasn't stupid – he _knew _he'd had a very privileged upbringing. And... well, to speak plainly, Mineral Town was a far cry from that – but he didn't exactly mind. He'd gone from having disposable money to knowing that if he didn't work, he and Jill didn't eat. From two hundred dollar haircuts to rather less professional jobs, courtesy of Jill and a pair of scissors. From gorgeous, shallow women to... some girls here that were real friends. The city had never been for him – that life had never been for him – and he hadn't realised until he'd come here.

And then... going back sounded tempting in its own right. Jill wouldn't come with him – in her mind, she'd left the city behind for good when she walked out the door almost two years ago. He couldn't speak _for _her, but it didn't really seem like she had any desire to return. Besides, she had Gray here – she wasn't leaving him in a hurry.

Those two... had an amazing relationship... they didn't see the need to be constantly touching, or constantly talking... but it could bring a smile to anyone's face to see the way Gray's arms would tighten around her just that little bit when he thought she might be cold, or the way Jill's voice became that much more gentle when it looked like he'd had a bad day with his grandfather. So... considerate, that was the word. So in tune to each-other's emotions and feelings. An outsider could come in for just a few hours and watch Gray and Jill – not touching, not speaking – and know from the way they looked at each-other that they were together.

Goddess, when did he become such a sap? Jack shook his head quickly from side to side, shrugging off the mushy thoughts. He was happy for Jill and Gray, and then half the time, a very small part of him wanted to punch anyone who laid a hand on his little sister. An unwelcome side effect, courtesy of the horror that was Tom.

But he'd gone off track. Good things that came with going back to the city – well, money, first and foremost. Respect. Status. Seeing his mother and his niece. Seeing his old friends. A huge variety of shops and entertainment. Fast food – heavens, it had been too long. Sports. Television. Concerts and movies. Air-conditioning and heating. Not having to walk everywhere. A fixed income that didn't fall short unexpectedly thanks to whatever mood Mother Earth was in. Having the chance to visit his father's grave. Less responsibility. More leisure time. Stunning girls – no, he grimaced, shaking his head from side to side. He couldn't count that as a good thing. It wasn't a bad thing... it _had _been a good thing... but that wasn't what he wanted anymore.

With a sigh, he mentally started listing the bad things about going back to the city. First and foremost, Jill wouldn't be coming back with him. He'd grown so used to having her around that it scared him a little to imagine leaving her on her own – or, in fact, being on _his _own. Then there was the fresh air and beauty of Mineral Town – he was healthier, happier and stronger than he'd ever been. Safety – in the city, walking alone through some streets at night was an open invitation to muggers and murderers. In Mineral Town – hah. No such thing. The farmwork truly was a plus, as well... there was something unarguably satisfying about working _hard _and making money, without the help of parents or associates. Besides, he'd be leaving behind everyone else, not just Jill – Ann, Rick, Karen and Popuri, Cliff and Gray –

Mary.

As that thought struck, so too did an inexplicable wave of panic. Leave the fiery librarian here – and what if he came back and she'd left Mineral Town? Truth be told, of all the people here, she was the one that seemed most likely to leave. She could travel the world, she could... get married. And despite the mental lists he'd made – the good things about Mineral Town, the good things about the city – that one thought cancelled them all out. He wasn't leaving.

"Jack?" Jill asked frantically, waving her hand in front of his slightly dazed expression. His eyes snapped up to her, and he attempted a smile.

"What is it, brat?"

"Gosh, I thought you'd died. Had a heart-attack, at the very least," she giggled, shaking her head firmly. A knock sounded from the front door, and she started walking in that direction. "I'll get it. You're looking better, by the way. I – ay!" She made a peculiar squeaking noise, shoving someone back from the door roughly as Jack turned around, puzzled. "Hi Gray," she rushed in a voice that was much too loud to sound casual or truthful. "Yeah-I'm-ready-to-go-I'll-be-back-soon-Jack-love-you." She hurried out the door, slamming it behind her and leaving Jack to shrug and turn back to the television.

"Goddess, Tom," Jill growled grabbing the dark-haired man's elbow and pulling him out the gate. "Do you have a death wish? Jack doesn't like you! He hates you! How do you think he'd react to seeing you standing in the front door?"

"I didn't come to see Jack," he shrugged casually, stopping in the middle of the path. "I came to see you." Once Jill had calmed down and gathered that Jack wasn't angrily following them, the nerves that she always felt around Tom kicked in.

"Um... me?" she whispered, digging her nails into her hand and trying her hardest to not make eye contact. Not satisfied with that, Tom placed two fingers under her chin and forced her head up.

"Yes, you," he said clearly. "I'm cashing in on my request for dinner. Just you and me, and we'll talk things out as much as necessary."

"W-well... I don't know if that's a good idea – Veronica... Gray..."

"You don't need to worry about the _blacksmith_," Tom spat, a petulant tone to his voice although Jill didn't pick up on it. "Veronica is fine too, I've already spoken to her about it. It's not a date, you know." He examined the blonde's face for disappointment, but nothing was getting past the emotion of pure shock. "So... pick you up at the farm at seven?" He cringed, hearing words that he never thought he would say. He was taking out a _farmgirl_. An unusually pretty one; one who hadn't always been so 'country'... but nevertheless...

"Are you crazy?" Jill exploded, the stupidity of his words hitting past her bewilderment. "Yeah, okay, I'll let Jack see me getting picked up by you, and then you can be murdered slowly."

"Well, what do you propose?" he asked, a teasing tone to his voice as he leaned in closer. She hesitated, a little distracted by her ex-boyfriend's proximity. "I _am _having dinner with you, Jill. And if it came down to fighting your brother..." the look he received made him hold his hands up defensively. "I'm kidding. I wouldn't fight Jack."

"I hope not," she frowned, suddenly realising how realistic that situation could become knowing Jack's temper and Tom's... she was inclined to call it arrogance. A superiority complex, maybe? Regardless, if anything happened to get those two riled up... she'd stick up for Jack, but she had to admit that even now, she'd hate to see Tom get hurt. "Keep away from Jack, okay?"

"If you want," he said, his playful expression quickly turning to one of false concern. "So... we'll meet at the inn, will we?"

"Okay," she nodded, not giving a great deal of thought to exactly what she was agreeing to. The realisation would undoubtedly kick in soon enough, along with the resulting panic attack – but for the moment she was rather pleased with herself for deflecting a fight that probably wouldn't have happened anyway.

"Thanks for doing this," Tom murmured, whisking forward and placing a light kiss on her forehead before she realised. "I... guess it's still hard for you, having me here. All I want to do is try make it a little easier." With a crooked smile, he walked off and left her standing there more than a little dazed.

"Yeah, he's pretty dreamy," a jokingly sarcastic voice said from behind her, making her whirl around with her hand on her chest. "I've gotta say," Rick continued, his voice more quiet and serious now, "I didn't like the look of that." Jill started to say something, but he cut her off. "I know it's none of my business. I just... _I_ saw you at the beginning. Corny as it sounds, I saw that broken look in your eyes for the first months I knew you, and it's creeping back now that he's here." He hesitated, looking like his next words were particularly hard to choke out. "It went away when Gray came into your life. I... guess I owe him that much. He made you happy again, didn't he?"

"... Gray's done a lot for me," she finally whispered after countless seconds had passed. "I appreciate him more than you could know. I... love him."

To Rick's credit, he didn't look taken-aback by that remark in the slightest. "Be careful, Jill," he said simply, before chuckling. "You're a little _too _good at messing things up. I think you're asking for trouble, going with Tom."

"Goddess, Rick, don't do this – please, don't say anything to Gray. I don't want him to think there's anything to worry about –"

"You're underestimating me," he said dryly. "I'm not that kind of guy. I'll mind my own business, and let you get on with yours. You can do what you think is best. But..." he paused, glancing at the ground. "If you need me – if things get to be too much for you – I'm always here as your friend."

The blonde stared at him for a moment, before her face broke into a helpless smile and she threw her arms around his neck. "_Best_ friend, Rick," she murmured before pulling back. "And I don't deserve a best friend half as incredible as you. You're... being so strong, and so brave. I'm sorry if this hurts you at all."

"It's not incredible of _me_," he laughed, letting himself brush a strand of hair out of her eyes, then stepping well back. "It's the person that inspires me to _be_ strong who's incredible." He blushed. "But I guess you knew that. I – I have to go, Jill."

"Okay," she said softly, not even bothering to protest. "Thank you."

He turned and started to walk away, before facing back towards her for a split second. "Thank _you_."

**xxx**

"Gray."

"Jack," Gray nodded in reply as the farmer walked into the blacksmith's. Jack glanced around, not seeing Saibara.

"Where's your grandfather?"

"Hiking."

"You're not?"

"Too busy."

"Ah." Both nodded, simply for a lack of anything to say. After a long time, Jack cleared his throat. "Where's Jill?"

Gray started to look genuinely interested, placing the tool that he had been shaping down on the bench and focussing his full attention on Jack. "I have no idea – I haven't seen her all day. I mean... I've been working, so that's not a huge surprise. Tried the inn?"

"I'll go there next," he exhaled. "I just came here first. I..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "This is kind of embarrassing. I wanted to ask you something."

"Don't say anything I _really _don't wanna hear," Gray retorted immediately, holding both hands up in a defensive pose. Jack snorted.

"Goddess, you really don't know me well, do you?" He hesitated, looking remarkably young for a few moments as he struggled to find the right words. "How... close were you and Mary?"

Gray's eyes promptly flew open wider than should be humanly possible; he choked slightly and stared at Jack with an expression that could only be described as incredulous. "Y-you... you mean... I, ah..." his cheeks redder than they'd ever been before, he took a step back. "I don't... we weren't..."

"Please," Jack scoffed, slightly amused by his reaction but worried all at the same time. "Trust me; I'm the last person in the world who wants to hear about _that_. I mean... how close was your friendship... how well do you know her?"

The blush subsiding somewhat from his cheeks, Gray exhaled and pulled the chair from behind Saibara's workbench. "Here," he said gruffly, shoving the chair in Jack's direction and finding another one for himself. Jack took a seat tentatively, feeling remarkably girly as he sat down with his sister's boyfriend for a gossip. Except, instead of sitting at the inn with a cup of coffee, they were in a smoky, dark workshop with things burning, boiling and melting in every direction. "Jill told me I might have to do this," Gray muttered under his breath.

"Do what?"

"She... said you might ask me about Mary. I thought she was just trying to get the information out of _me_, but it looks like she was right."

"I'm not –" he began angrily, offended that his sister had been discussing him. _Now isn't the time_. He took a deep breath, and began speaking. "I thought I understood girls – and then I met Mary, and she... confused me completely. And now, when I thought I'd finally got a handle on it, I realise that I still don't have a clue."

"Well... Mary was the only girl I got to know _well_ before Jill, and... I don't know. I guess Jill seems a lot more confusing to me than Mary ever did. They're two different girls."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, helpful. I _know _they're different, and I know Jill like the back of my hand... which kind of means that I don't know Mary as well as I'd..." he blushed. "As well as I'd like to."

"O-_oh_," Gray said suddenly, his eyebrows lowering. Jack nodded, his face stony. Gray hesitated. "Geez, I... don't know how much help I can be. What did you want to know, exactly?"

"We're fighting," Jack said simply, past embarrassment now. "We're fighting over something... when we have two very different views on it. I think it's stupid... hell, I don't want to fight with her, especially over _that_... but she seems to find it very important that I give in."

"If you... told me what it was, I might –" the farmer cut him off, shaking his head abruptly, and Gray sighed. "Okay. That makes it harder. Look, Mary... 'loyal' comes to mind. And that doesn't just mean loyal to _people_, but loyal to her beliefs. You won't sway her easily on anything, and if it comes down to it... you have to decide whether it's worth the arguing. She won't budge unless something undeniable gives her proof, but she's surprisingly forgiving. Stubborn, but if you were... to apologize, she wouldn't hold it over you." He stopped talking, glancing at his hands. "It... comes down to how much she means to you. If you're willing to be wrong; make her right – and make her happy at the same time."

Jack's eyes were wide as the blacksmith finished his unusually long and wise speech. "... You really do know her well, huh?"

"She's a great girl," Gray said quietly. "I never stopped thinking that, no matter what she believes. She has every right to think badly of me... but I still feel that your sister's worth it all."

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't think badly of you even now, per se," Jack replied wryly. "She must've thought the sunshine walked beside you."

The blacksmith shot a scowl at the ground, scuffing the concrete with the toe of his workboot. "I never deserved it. I don't deserve that from anyone."

"Jill thinks you do."

"Jill thinks a lot of things," he exhaled, though a helpless smile crossed his face when he said her name. "She's rarely right about them."

Jack watched him thoughtfully for a few moments, making him blush and glare back wordlessly. "You really wouldn't hurt her, would you?"

"How could you even think –" Gray began indignantly.

"Goddess, relax. I mean... you love her. You won't leave. It's not something she's had before, and you've got to be patient with her..."

"I'll give her all the time she needs," he said plainly. "I'm not going anywhere without her."

"Thank you," Jack said sincerely. "It's... somewhat reassuring to know that if something happened to me –" he made a face, "– at least she'd have you. You'd look after her, wouldn't you?"

"Wouldn't let anyone else do it."

"Glad to hear it," Jack coughed, suddenly rather afraid that this conversation had turned a little _too _feminine for anyone's benefit. Gray seemed to have the same idea, standing up so quickly he nearly sent his chair toppling over. "Look... thanks for the advice," Jack said. "I think... maybe I should give her a few more days to get completely calm... and then I'm just going to go and apologize to her, plain and simple."

"Right. Uh... good luck."

"Think I'll need it."

Gray smirked. "Don't underestimate her, Jack."

He ran one hand through his brown hair, exhaling slowly before grinning. "Trust me – that's just about the _last _thing I'd do."

**xxx**

"Where are you going, so dressed up?" Jack asked curiously, watching his sister fasten a small pair of earrings. She stepped back from the mirror, her face anxious as she glanced down at herself.

"I'm... I'm not dressed up, am I?" She turned back to the mirror, taking in her outfit. It was relatively simple – a cream coloured skirt with a pale pink blouse, and matching pink plaited sandals. She'd left her long hair out and straight, and applied minimal makeup. As a matter of fact, she'd spent hours trying her hardest not to look too overdone. Jack frowned at her.

"Not... dressed up, exactly... but you look nice. Like you're going out somewhere. Are you going out somewhere?"

"Dinner," she said a little too quickly. "Gray... dinner at the inn."

"That's weird," he said slowly. "I was just talking with him today. You would think he'd mention it, huh? You'd better hope he hasn't forgotten about you."

"At... least, if he has, it's at the inn. I can just go upstairs and drag him down." She laughed nervously, checking her reflection once more, then turning towards the doorway. "Um... see you later."

"Jill, wait," he called quickly. She froze, guiltily turning to face him. "You look pale – I don't think you're well. Maybe you should think about cancelling – I know Gray would understand... he's got more concern for your health than anything."

"I'm fine," she snapped immediately. "I've got to get going – see you tonight." She walked out briskly, shivering a little as the late autumn air hit her... she'd forgotten that tomorrow was the first day of winter. Regardless, she didn't want to go back into the house for a jacket; she was a terrible liar and her brother wouldn't believe her for much longer if she spent much more time around him. Goddess, she truly did feel slightly sick for lying to him.

"Jill," a familiar voice said, and she jumped slightly as someone took a firm hold on her elbow. "Going to walk right past me?"

"Tom – what?" she glanced up and her eyebrows raised in surprise when she realised that she'd already reached the inn. Her gaze travelled to the smirking man who was still holding her. "Hey," she mumbled, taking a deliberate step back and breaking his grip on her. He looked taken-aback for a brief second, before he recomposed his face into a grin.

"You look beautiful."

"You look reasonable, I guess," she said lightly. His face snapped into a scowl, and she laughed hesitantly. "That... that was a joke."

"Of course," he said, forcing a smile but still looking rather bitter. "It was very funny."

Jill blinked at him a few times, unsure whether he was being sarcastic, out and out lying, or really _had _found it funny and just wasn't laughing. He didn't give her much time to mull it over, taking her arm once more and leading her through the double doors into the main area of the inn. "I've reserved a table for us," he said smoothly, pointing to a rather private table in the corner of the room. He sat down in his own chair first, facing out with a view of the entire inn, leaving Jill to take the seat with a view of Tom and a view of the wall.

"Um... thanks," she said awkwardly, taking her seat and staring at the white tablecloth in front of her. She placed both hands on the table, clasped together at first, then separated them and started drumming the fingertips of her right hand against the wood in a quick, absent-minded rhythm.

"So," Tom said firmly, reaching out and clamping his hand over hers to stop the incessant tapping. "Tell me everything. You came here by yourself at first, didn't you?"

"Uh... yeah," she said slowly. "I bought the farm and came out to it... I wasn't really by myself, though. People were... relatively friendly to me, and Gray helped a lot. He's been an amazing friend to me this whole time." Her face flushed uncontrollably, and a smile made its way onto her face as she talked about the blacksmith. "He's... I don't know how to describe him. It's like –"

"Yes, okay," the dark-haired man interrupted with a scowl. "I'm sure he's lovely, but I want to hear about _you_, Jill. Tell me –" his words trailed off slowly, and a small smirk appeared on his face at a sight over Jill's shoulder. She quickly swivelled in her chair, and raised an eyebrow to see Basil, Anna and Mary sitting down for dinner. Basil and Anna were chatting at a hundred miles a minute – Mary looked unbelievably bored but very pretty in a modest, pale blue dress. Very, _very _pretty, apparently.

"Are you looking at Mary?" Jill asked, her voice sounding indignant. After all, she couldn't scold him when he wasn't hers anymore – but he _was _married. To her sister, no less – although she hardly counted Veronica as family anymore. But heavens above, it was immoral, if he really was checking out the librarian.

"D-don't be ridiculous," he laughed, looking rather less than composed for once. "I don't even... what was her name?"

"Mary," she said slowly.

"Ah," Tom said, feigning ignorance. "I just... thought I recognized her –" the girl in question glanced up at their table and he treated her to a sly wink, making her raise a disbelieving eyebrow and turn back to her parents. "– she's the librarian, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Jill replied, pouring a glass of water from the jug on the table. She sipped it quietly, watching in confusion as Tom continued to sneak glances at the people behind Jill. "Have you decided what to order?" she said, scrambling for conversation and beginning to really think about what a huge mistake this evening was.

"Ma – marinade," he immediately stumbled, flushing slightly. "Actually, no, uh... I might have the chicken. You?"

"I'm thinking the pasta..." she replied shortly. Tom glanced back over to Mary's table, then seemed to finally realise the pout on Jill's face. He bit his lip in contemplation, then reached over and clasped her smaller hand in his.

"Jill... I'm truly sorry for everything that happened between us." Her eyebrows flew up in shock, and he fought to take his words back. "No! I don't... mean our relationship, Jill. I never regretted that in the slightest. I meant how we are now... we can barely make decent conversation, and I blame myself. The way I handled things was wrong. I should have confronted you; we should have worked it out before I left you that way."

"If you'll recall," she said coldly, pulling her hand away, "_I'm_ the one who left. You followed me here, and I'd appreciate if you didn't make out that I'm the clingy one who couldn't let you go, just because you had another relationship before I did. Just because you cheated."

Tom sat there, stunned for a few moments, and then leaned back meditatively. "You're absolutely right." Jill promptly choked on her water – in what was now close to fifteen years, it was the first time he had admitted anything like that. "I followed you here – I had no right. I just assumed that you might be as eager to make things better as I was. I can't live without you, Jill." Her blue eyes widened significantly under his intense gaze. "You were my best friend for so long – I can't just _not _have you in my life. I nearly went crazy while you were here. And I'm in love with Veronica, but..." he paused briefly, clicking his tongue. "I don't have one tenth as much history with her. There's no-one in this world who knows me as well as you do."

"Well, Jack knows an awful lot about me," she replied promptly, shrugging her shoulders. "I'd say he probably knows the most."

"He's your brother. He can't know half the things that I do," Tom said, his face still gravely serious. "... I never cheated on you." Jill spluttered angrily, and he held up both hands in a calming motion. "I know that Veronica and I had come to an agreement _before _I broke up with you – but all we did was talk; work out our feelings. There was nothing physical –"

"_That_," she said immediately, "Is the biggest pack of lies I've ever heard. Like you said, I _know _you, and I know that there is no way in hell –"

"Okay, well, I did cheat _technically_... but there was never an intent to hurt you."

"That makes it better," she mumbled under her breath as Ann walked up with both their meals.

"Here," she said roughly, shoving the first plate at Tom and not treating Jill's much more carefully. The blonde sighed, realising that there were going to be quite a few people who weren't happy about her going behind Gray's back. She hated to think of it that way, but... if Gray knew, he'd worry about it... and there wasn't anything to worry about.

"Hi," Tom said with a charming smile. Jill was about to scowl at him for being idiotic, but realised that his gaze was directed at someone right behind her. She swivelled in her seat to see Mary, blushing furiously and staring at the ground.

"Do you guys have any salt?" she asked uncomfortably, not making eye contact with either of them.

"And just when I thought you were all sugar," Tom laughed, making it obvious that he was 'joking'. Mary looked like she was trying not to gag nonetheless.

"Here you go," Jill said, reaching out for the salt shaker in the middle of the table. Before she could reach, the dark-haired man had shot out a hand and grabbed it first. He pulled the shaker closer to him, tracing circles around it with the tip of one finger, obviously trying to keep the librarian talking.

"So, how are you?"

"Fine," she said dryly. She glanced back over her shoulder, blushing slightly as Anna – completely silent, for once – subconsciously leant towards the table, blatantly eavesdropping. She sighed loudly, her blush growing. "Mom... Mom wants to know, um... how Jack is?" Mary hesitated and bit her lip. "She hasn't seen him around for awhile."

"Yeah," Jill nodded, her concern apparent on her face. "He just seems... under everything lately. A little depressed, or something." She didn't seem to notice as Mary's blush immediately subsided, her face turning chalk-white instead. "You know... maybe you could go visit him. That could make him feel better."

"I don't think I'm a person he's all that keen on seeing at the moment," she replied quietly.

"Why?" Jill asked, her eyebrows lowering. Tom shot Mary a desperate glance, and the librarian shook her head slowly.

"I'm just assuming he wants to be alone."

"But he's happier when you're around," the blonde pressed. "Maybe if _you _went and talked to him –"

"Sorry." Mary reached over the table and took the salt from Tom's hands abruptly, walking briskly back to her family. Jill turned to Tom and shot him a puzzled look.

"What's wrong with her?"

"No idea," he offered, the majority of his attention now firmly fixed on the plate in front of him. Their meal managed to keep them distracted and keep conversation to a bare minimum for around twenty minutes, but eventually both were forced to realise that they weren't going to be able to avoid words forever. "So," Tom said, increasing the awkward tension between them if anything.

"Jill?"

The blonde's heart sank as rapidly as a heavy stone in water; the unmistakably familiar voice sounded confused, hurt and angry all at once. Unable to paint on a smile, she turned to face Gray with what could only be described as a grimace. "Hey," she said weakly, trying her best to keep his eye-contact and prevent his gaze falling on the man opposite her. She had tried in vain – he bit his lip and nodded sharply, taking a step back from the both of them.

"I'm... I'm gonna go upstairs," he said quietly. "Have a nice night, Jill." He turned and left her sitting there, but only reached the landing outside his room when she caught up to him.

"Don't be mad," she begged, reaching out and intertwining his hand in hers. "I know that it looks like I'm going behind your back, but I'm not, I swear... Tom and I _need _this – or I do, at least. I need to talk to him and get answers before I can put everything behind me. And I totally understand if you're angry at me, because –"

He squeezed her hand gently. "I'm not mad."

"You're... not mad," she blinked, not comprehending. He allowed her a tiny smile.

"Don't get me wrong – I'd rather never see you in the same country as him, let alone having dinner." He paused briefly, rubbing his temple. "I would let you do almost anything if it was helping you move on... anything that's helping ease the pain for you, I can live with. But... if he hurts you... huh. Just let him know I'm keeping an eye on him." He finished his words grimly, jaw set as he undoubtedly fantasized about knocking Jill's ex unconscious.

"How could someone like me possibly deserve someone like you," she muttered, stepping forward and resting her head on his chest. Gray chuckled slightly and wrapped his arms around her torso.

"That's a question I ask myself hourly," he shrugged. Jill giggled and nudged him with her elbow, stepping away from him. He shook his head and pulled her back, kissing her forehead gently.

When several minutes had passed and neither had moved or spoken, Jill reluctantly pushed away from him again. "Tom's still downstairs."

"We can pretend he isn't."

"Don't be mean," she scolded, an uncontainable smile washing over her face.

"Ha," he said skeptically. "I'm never mean."

"Uh-huh," she rolled her eyes, turning away from him. "And I'm a natural brunette." Gray raised an eyebrow and pushed her shoulders lightly, making her stumble, spin around, and scowl at him. "Gray! Brat."

"I'm a brat?" he asked, a smirk on his face. Jill slowly advanced on him, her face breaking into a smile as she threw her arms around his neck. "Go on," he sighed, disentangling Jill from him. "Get going."

Jill crossed her arms over her chest and clicked her tongue. "You're being mean _now_."

"I'm not. I'm letting you do what you want."

"I want to stay with you."

"Then stay with me."

"I _can't_," she exhaled, as if she weren't blatantly contradicting herself in saying it. "I have to go back to Tom."

"Then go."

"You're horrible!"

The blacksmith smirked again, kissing the top of her head. "I don't want you to go, but I understand that you have to. Happy?"

Jill squeezed his hand, a content smile on her face. "I love you."

"I love you."

There was a loud cough from behind them, and they both glanced over to see a blushing Cliff. "Could... could I get past?"

"Sorry," Jill murmured, kissing Gray on the cheek and ducking past both men, her face mortified while she raced down the stairs. She smiled hesitantly at Tom, who was standing up at their table and looking less than happy.

"The waitress took our plates," he informed her dryly, "And then told me in no uncertain terms that if we weren't eating, we'd need to leave." Tom sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I suppose you should probably get home to Jack... and Veronica _is_ upstairs with a headache; I might need to check on her." He faltered, before leaning down and kissing her cheek. "Goodnight, Jill." He turned and ascended upstairs, leaving Jill standing by the doorway.

"Jerk," Ann spat, sauntering over to Jill as soon as Tom was gone. "Can you believe he'd just leave, and let you walk home by yourself at night? Heck, if any guy did that to me..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "Well, come on. I'll walk with you."

"Don't worry about it –" Ann silenced her with a wave of her hand.

"No arguing. Come on." She shoved the door open with her shoulder, then comfortably walked ahead of Jill and towards the farm. "I wish you hadn't met up with him tonight. I mean... working things out is all very well, but... having dinner is kind of a date thing. What does Jack think about it?" Jill was silent and Ann stopped in her tracks, turning around. "Well?"

"Jack doesn't know I was with Tom," she admitted quietly. "He thought I was having dinner with Gray."

"You lied to him?"

"I didn't have a choice. He'd never let me go if he knew it was Tom – don't say anything to him, Ann, please. He'll get so mad at me."

The redhead closed her eyes firmly. "I can omit certain truths, but I'm not going to lie to him. Goddess, Gray saw you two together, didn't he? – I'm assuming he wasn't told before tonight?"

"No..." Jill admitted sullenly. Ann exhaled slowly, and the two continued in silence until they reached the farmhouse. "I'm not going to meet up with him again, Ann," Jill whispered in a distressed voice. The waitress turned, one hand on the door, a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Jill, just... don't hurt the people who care about you the most," she murmured in reply, before pushing the door open and painting on a smile. "Hey, Jack!"

"Hey," he replied warmly. "What're you doing here?"

"Bringing your wayward sister home. She spent the whole night drinking and abusing the stunningly beautiful waitress, so I've kicked her out."

"You have a hot waitress working there, now?" Jack asked, his eyes widening in sarcastic delight. Ann scowled at him, and Jill rolled her eyes at the both of them. "Hey, darling sister. How was Gray?"

"Gray... Gray's fine," she mumbled, walking over to the bookshelf quickly and pulling out something random to avoid conversation. It didn't work; Jack frowned as a sudden realisation hit him.

"Why on earth didn't Gray walk you home?"

Jill froze, before stuttering out protests. "It's... it's not far for me to walk. Why should he?"

"Gray wouldn't let you walk home alone at night –"

"For the love of the Goddess, it's Mineral Town, Jack. Nothing's going to happen – and besides, Ann came with me, didn't she? There was no need for him to come."

"Ann's a girl, no matter how hard she tries to make us believe otherwise. He shouldn't have let you two walk home alone, no matter where it is..." He trailed off and frowned.

"Jack," she sighed, trying to keep her voice level, "Do you remember how many times I walked alone through the city at night? I seem pretty un-murdered to me right now."

"That's only because your jerk of a boyfriend never bothered to walk you anywhere," he grumbled. "I thought Gray was more considerate than that..."

"I'm going to bed!" she announced quickly, eager to get out of that room as quickly as humanly possible. She grabbed her pyjamas out of the dresser and raced into the bathroom, sending Ann one final, pleading glance. Jack fixed his gaze on Ann, then groaned.

"I have to walk _you _home, now."

"I don't need a chaperone!" she replied indignantly.

"You thought Jill did –"

"That's because Jill can turn anything and everything into a catastrophe. Me, on the other hand..." All Jack had to do was raise an eyebrow, and she sighed pathetically. "_Fine_."

"Come on," he said, clamouring to his feet and pushing open the door for her. She walked outside, a frown on her face and her hands planted firmly on her hips. "Don't use that attitude with me. I'm looking out for your wellbeing. You shouldn't be yelling, you should be kissing me."

There was a long, extremely awkward silence, before Ann shook herself and started walking off in front of him. "Anyway," she called.

"How did Jill and Gray look to you, tonight?" he asked curiously. "I mean, did they look happy? Or did they have a fight... because I can't imagine him letting her walk home by herself. If not out of concern for her safety, just because he'd want to spend as much time with her as he possibly could."

"I don't think they fought," she said airily, biting her lip. "I... I didn't see much of them, to tell you the truth." _Or part of it._ She finished her sentence with an adamant, closing tone to hint that she wasn't talking about it anymore. Jack frowned to himself, and both of them walked quietly. "Thanks," Ann said when they finally reached the inn.

"Anytime."

"See ya." Ann silently closed the door behind her, leaving Jack standing outside with a bewildered expression on his face.

"But who's going to walk _me _home?"

**xxx**

**XD Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on what Tom looked like. You all have your own images that I'll let you stick with, and those who don't... don't need an image in their heads. Thanks for your patience, and I'll go to start working on the next chapter!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Well. I just surprised myself a lot.**

**Just over one week to update... with a fairly long chapter, also. See, I had this amazing realisation that if you want to be **_**able **_**to update, you need to write something... and in order to write something, you actually need to sit down at the computer to type. XD. Admittedly, this chapter was very easy to write... but excruciatingly difficult at the same time. On that note:**

**WARNING: The chapter... deals with some reasonably mature themes and implications. We're not delving into 'M' rated territory by any means, but if there's... you know, ten year olds out there who might get uncomfortable... this warning is for you. It was kind of an unavoidable thing to write, and I'm sorry if it **_**does **_**make anyone uncomfortable. I'm dramatising it already, it's not that bad. But... just to be on the safe side, you know?**

**Right. This may possibly be the most drama-filled chapter in the story so far :) hopefully you guys like it. As always, I love the wonderful Jean Cooper for the help and support through the parts that I struggled with immensely. And the reviewers who have stuck by me all the way up to chapter 40. XD.**

**Jean Cooper** – Thank you so much Val. If it weren't for you, I'd never have worked up the confidence to attempt pulling this chapter off, and thanks for listening to my whining and angsting when nothing was coming together. Hopefully now it has :) and you're exactly right, Tom IS the sleaze that makes the hole in the ozone layer bigger. He'll get his ;)

**RyanMan14 **– I know, I know, my reviewers have been absolutely unbelievable. I highly doubt that this little story deserves over 700 reviews – well, not exactly 'little' story, but you get what I mean. Haha. I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and I know, it had been absolutely ages since I'd updated – hopefully this update didn't take too long for you XD. Thanks!

**Random Jelly Beans** – Heh! You scared me! I always get paranoid that I've forgotten to reply to someone, so I count the reviews and then count the review replies and then do it again... but because some people reviewed twice for the double update, there were less reviewers than reviews... argh. You get the point. Anyway, thrilled that you liked my poor attempts at fluff and I hope this chapter is satisfactory as well :)

**Starlight Amethyst** – Thank you so much. It always makes me smile to see that someone's enjoyed the story!

**poesumo** – Aww, I really appreciate it. It's so nice to know that people actually enjoy reading it! :3 And you're absolutely right, Jill needs to get some sense. Otherwise, her actions could cause... all kinds of trouble. Enjoy.

**melii101** – Well, the lovely review made me re-read it and put off History Revolutions for a couple of minutes, so you pretty much did help me avoid homework anyway xD. I completely understand that GrayxFarmer chicky wouldn't have been one of your favourite pairings... there's way too much of it floating around nowdays, and it's kind of ruining it for me as well :S but no matter. Haha... read the chapter... then come back and tell me what you think of Tom afterwards, yes?

**The Scarlet Sky** – So, you left an awesomely awesome review but I honestly couldn't care less at this very second because I GOT THAT PRINCESS DEBUT GAME. As soon as you said it, I'm like... hmm... she's never given me bad advice before. So I bought it. And I love you. FOREVER. It's the... the... cutest thing I've ever seen! Like, verging on sickeningly so, but it's so cute that you hardly notice the overwhelming cuteness! I keep replaying and trying to find a way to make my favourite – Lucisano, or something – stay with me and not go to the world championships. Woah, I'm rambling, and this review reply isn't the time or place to do it. Seriously though. So. Cute. And... argh. Must. Reply. To. Actual. Review. The Jack and Gray girly twirly bit was my favourite bit to write in a long, long time. And, I don't care how conceited it sounds, I laughed hysterically when I wrote the line about salt and sugar. Just because, God, I could picture Mary's face right there. Naww. Sorry this is going on forever... shutting up.

**shadowtiger21** – Thank you so much – I don't mind if you don't have any suggestions, but the fact that you bothered to leave a review letting me know you're enjoying it means more than you realise. I hope this update was quick enough ('cause with chapters this length, I can't really do them any faster XD) and hope you let me know what you think of this chapter! :D

**Weinner Sinclaire** – This buffoonish banana bunch is unfortunately going to get worse before they get better. I can't... say much, because this chapter kind of does the review reply for me. Mary got over-defensive, and Jack got... angry. Very angry. And Ann... ahh, that girl gets mixed emotions from me. Admittedly, most of the time I love her, but you have to have characters that not everyone will like. I know that there's a few who strongly dislike Jill, and hell, there's probably some who can't stand Jack. It's all up to how you personally see the character, I guess. Thanks a million for the long and, as always, in-depth review.

**DoubleKK** – I think I must have subconsciously stolen Tom Riddle's persona for Tom... Smith. (Original!) Because, after you and Erika mentioned it, that is exactly how I always pictured him. And I don't know the Harry Potter movies all that well – like, I can recite Pride and Prejudice word for word, so if I made a character even resembling Mr. Darcy... I'd realise. But the fact that I _called _him Tom – the same goddamn name – XD it's kind of embarrassing. Well, at least it's fanfiction... Harry Potter/Harvest Moon crossover, dudes! Veronica makes a small appearance in this chapter, so unfortunately she hasn't fallen off the face of the earth :3 and... I'm sure you're right, but I have no idea what Archie Comics are, so I should probably go and look that up, huh? ;) you're one of my favourite reviewers, so I'm hoping you're happy with the relatively fast update and relatively long chapter!

**Katrina Tora** – Naww! It's nice to hear that you were waiting on the last update, and I'm so so happy that you reviewed. I'll keep my eyes open for whack-a-moles O.o ... I might send them after the non-reviewers as well. Kidding! (Sort of.) I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I promise I'll try and be speedy with the next one as well!

**Erika** – MY SEVEN HUNDREDTH REVIEWER, BABY! Uh... yeah... –awkward silence- Because I know exactly what you're talking about when you say the truth about life? Lmao. ANYWAY. Going wherever the hell it's going – if you thought things were on a road to being sorted out, you were wrong... things need to be sorted out, true, but first we have to make the problems if we want to solve them. And making problems is my job XD. We wouldn't want to waste eight seconds of your life, so I won't say a word about not signing in... I probably never WOULD if I didn't have to sign in to update this baby. XD. Enjoy it! (Seriously. If you don't, I'll come after you and... shoot you. Or something.)

**xPaparazzixChickx** – Woah. I clicked on your review notification, and my eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw the length of it. –hugs tightly- THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! I'd like to work on my description, but it really does get annoying when people go on for paragraphs with colourful adjectives about really, really trivial things. I try avoid it :) Jack's actually a little scary in this chapter, without giving too much away. But I really love him, and I think I'd have to agree – he's my favourite to write for. I actually really like in-game Mary, but I... mutilated her a little in this where I was all... 'this is what you get for standing between Jill and Gray! RAWR!' I have to say, I like her now as well. I get ridiculously attached to the whole lot of them XD. Veronica... and Tom... I don't want to elaborate on them until you're done with the chapter. Your review truly did make my day, and I've never been so happy to waste someone's Saturday night and Sunday. Thank you!

**Dreaming Hoping Wishing** – I'm so sorry, I KNOW I know who you are, and I know you've reviewed before... I think... but you've changed your penname, yes? And I can't remember who you used to be XD. But, no matter who you are, thank you so much for the gorgeous review and for making me smile when I saw the notification in my email. :D

**AsianFlipGurl** – Would you think I was as weird as my friends did when I told them that I've... never seen The Notebook? –is bricked– ahh! I probably should go hire it or something, if it reminds you of this XD. It sounds cute from what you wrote! You told me to update soon, and I guess I kind of did for once... hehe. Thanks heaps!

**alfjkdjoaipeoqyroiuq** – AHHH. I hate you for making me type out that penname XD. Don't worry about Jack and Mary being angry for long. And you're perfectly welcome to stab Tom in the face... you may want to start sharpening your knife right about now. I appreciate the review!

**Darkforce222** – LOL. I was clicking the button to update, and then I get an email notification with your review, and I'm just... madly pressing the stop button going 'CANCEL, CANCEL, CANCEL!' Thank goodness for super slow internet, hey? Even I can see that my writing has improved a lot – mainly because I cringe reading the earlier chapters, and don't cringe quite so much for these recent ones. Haha. If you can't decide between Ann and Mary... I guess I'll decide for you :3 thank you so much for the review!

**I truly love you guys. 700 is... unfathomable, so I'm not even going to go there. I hope you all enjoy the chapter – let me know!**

**xxx**

_Maybe I'm going insane,_ Mary thought to herself bitterly, pressing her palm firmly to her forehead and exhaling. She'd just spent two hours re-stacking the books on the library shelves, only to realise when she was finished that she'd done the whole thing backwards.

She hadn't been thinking clearly for goodness knows how long. No, she reminded herself firmly; she knew exactly how long... she just didn't want to admit it. Why on earth Jack should have this control over her without even _being_ there – when he hadn't even _spoken _to her for days! It was ridiculous, idiotic and complete insanity... and... inevitable, she admitted with a sigh. She was...

Falling for him. She was falling for him, and they weren't even on speaking terms. Fantastic.

Her breath caught in her chest as, right on cue, a tall shadow approached the library door. She hurriedly smoothed out her skirt and her hair, leaving the books in their muddled state and rushing to sit down at her desk. She grasped a random novel, bending over it studiously as the door swung open.

"Good morning, beautiful." She glanced up, her face falling in dramatic disappointment as Tom; not Jack, Tom... walked through the front door and winked almost luridly.

"You're back," she muttered disinterestedly, rising to her feet. He grinned and took a few steps closer.

"You sound like you're not happy to see me."

"I am... ecstatic," she informed him in a voice that completely contradicted her words. "Hold on. I'll find the book you had yesterday..." she walked to the corner and ran one hand lightly over the mixed up stories, oblivious to the leer on Tom's face as he admired his view, not having to worry about being beaten up by a certain possessive farmer. Casually strolling to stand close behind her, he placed his hand on the small of her back as an act of 'comfort'.

"Jack hasn't come to see you since the argument?" he asked sympathetically, his eyes conveying false concern. Mary froze, not moving away from him, but not exactly sending out the most accommodating vibes either.

"I'm sorry, that's not something I want to discuss –"

"It's a shame," he cut across, clicking his tongue. "I mean, if I were him... with a girl like you... there's no way I would stuff that up. But I guess it's better for you if you stay away from guys with tempers like that – you'd never be able to trust that he wouldn't lash out and hit _you_ at any moment, you know?"

She blinked at Tom incredulously, before shaking her head. "Just don't... if you _must _degrade Jack, I'm not the right person to listen to it."

"I understand that it might be a little bit of a... sensitive topic," he shrugged, brushing the side of her face with his hand. She instinctively backed away. "But when it comes right down to it, I'm only concerned about your... wellbeing."

"I don't need your advice –"

"What if he hurt you?"

"He wouldn't," she growled immediately. "You don't know what you're talking about –"

"I've known him longer than you have. Granted, he's never harmed a girl before, as far as I know... physically, that is... but I can see the potential in him. Take off the rose coloured glasses, Mares," he winked, using Jack's name for her. "No pun intended."

"It's Mary," the librarian snapped, getting angrier by the second.

"Mary," he repeated, looking slightly taken-aback. "It's a lovely name – I can see why you wouldn't be fond of nicknames... I just thought –"

"How I feel about nicknames depends on the person using them," she murmured. "But you're right, with most people, I can't stand them."

Tom stared at her for a few moments, a tiny smirk on his face. "Anyway... I'll check around for something to read."

"That _would_ be why normal people would come to a library."

"I suppose... but then again, this library has some... special motivations for coming." The colour drained from the librarian's face and she shot him a look of utter disbelief.

"Aren't you married?"

"What of it?"

Her frustration with the smirking man almost unbearable now, she exhaled very slowly and shook her head. "Look, maybe... could you just leave?"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "You don't really want me to."

"Clearly, I do, otherwise I wouldn't have said it."

"No you don't, Mary." The trademark smirk was back on his face as he drew closer to her – just a little too close. "You _know _you don't want me to leave. You don't have it in you."

"I asked Jack to leave," she warned, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. "I asked him to leave, and I actually care about _him_. Just... get out."

"But you sent him away... for me," he grinned, so self-assure that it was all Mary could do not to be sick. "See, Mares? You want me more than you ever wanted him."

"My _name_," she began furiously, "Is Mary. And furthermore –" she was stopped in her tracks by a large pair of hands pushing her against the bookshelves behind her as her mouth was caught in a rough kiss.

Inconceivably stunned; for a few moments she did nothing to fight back – and the dark-haired man only took that as encouragement, pressing his lips against hers more firmly and letting his hands begin to wander. He pulled back triumphantly for a moment, his eyes meeting the librarian's frightened, angry and horrified pair... before she screamed as piercingly and loudly as she possibly could, closing her eyes and clenching her fists.

"Shit Mary, shut up!" he said quickly, grabbing both her wrists in one hand and covering her mouth with the other. Shocked tears had begun to spill over from her eyes, but it didn't stop her from kicking out at him violently. He pinned her hands against the wall, pressing against her with no trace of humor left in his eyes. "I don't think you want this to come down to seeing who has the upper hand in a physical struggle, do you?" She simply glared at him, her tearful eyes conveying hate and disgust that words couldn't. When he was certain she wasn't going to scream again, he slowly removed his hand from her mouth.

"You're despicable," she whispered furiously. He raised an eyebrow, leaning closer to her.

"Let's not say things we'll... regret. Now you listen to me." She glowered, but didn't interrupt. "I'm warning you – you're not to tell anyone what happens now. Got it, princess?"

"W-what are you going to do," she asked, trying to sound unaffected but unable to stop her voice from wavering in fear. She didn't know what his boundaries were; she certainly didn't trust in his sense of decency – if such a thing even existed for him. He smirked, biting his lip as he gazed at her hungrily.

"Nothing that I think you'll find... unpleasant," he grinned, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers again. She determinedly turned her head to the side, making him grab her face and turn it towards him roughly. "Look," he growled, raising a threatening eyebrow. "You can make this easy, you can make this hard. Either way, you're not stopping it." She choked on a sob, her eyes finding the ground and then closing, trying to force herself to experience as little of this ordeal as possible.

**xxx**

Jack ran one hand through his hair nervously, pacing up and down the street between the library and the inn. It had all seemed so easy and simple yesterday – he'd go in, apologize, and promise to keep away from that jerk – at least while in the library, he added wryly. Only now, though, was he beginning to see the gaping holes in his plan. What if Mary didn't _want _to forgive him? If she was still mad, what could he do? That could be... extremely awkward.

_You are such a wimp._

"Hey, shut up," he growled at his brain, gaining himself a peculiar glance from Manna as she hurried past. He wasn't scared of a confrontation... just a little scared of what might _follow_ a confrontation. Which might have seemed like the same thing, but in his eyes... wasn't.

But if he didn't go talk to her... there wasn't any chance of things getting better. At least if he went up there, things could potentially go both ways... if they stayed the way they were for much longer, he'd undoubtedly go insane.

Shrugging his shoulders quickly and trying not to think about what he was going to do, he started walking up to the library. Just one foot in front of the other; nothing difficult about that. Step, step, step... when he eventually reached his destination he paused, the sound of low muttering barely audible from inside the building. He pushed the door open silently, thanking the Goddess that it didn't creak – and stopped dead.

"Look," Tom was snarling, his back to the door. "You can make this easy, you can make this hard. Either way, you're not stopping it." The farmer's thoughts went blank as his subconsciousness registered Mary trapped by the dark-haired man – nothing was going through to the forefront of his mind. It was as if he was outside, looking in on a world that he neither belonged to, nor understood anything about. Then Tom leaned in, pressing his lips fiercely against the weeping librarian's; threading his arms around her waist... and something clicked – or rather, snapped.

A curse word that had never been uttered in that library before echoed through the room, and before any of the three truly realised what was going on, Tom was landing on the ground and exclaiming in pain as his hands flew up to his bloody nose. "What the hell?" His eyes flew open in horror as he recognized Jack standing above him, breathing rapid and fists clenched. He scrambled to his feet, only to be knocked straight back down by another unbelievably heavy punch.

"Jack," Mary managed to express in a strangled voice, reaching out but not quite daring to touch him. "Jack –"

"Mares," he said in reply, forgetting about wanting to murder Tom in that second. He turned on his heel and crossed the room in about half a second to kneel beside her. She was pressing herself into a corner, obviously doing all she could to keep away from the man who was now taking the opportunity to stagger out the front door. "Mary... are you hurt?" she shook her head silently and he took both of her shaking hands in his own. "I'm going to go after him, I –"

"Don't," she begged quietly, reaching out and clinging to the front of his shirt as endless tears streamed down her face. "Please, _please _don't leave me."

"I won't," he promised simply. "I won't go anywhere." She let go of his shirt and jammed her palms to her hands, rocking back and forth with muffled, hysterical sobs. "Goddess, Mary... I'm so sorry. I should've got here earlier, I... should've killed him when I walked in." She tried to answer but was unable to speak coherently, only able to shake her head in weak protest. Her crying didn't seem to be lessening; if anything, it was getting worse. Jack stared at her in hopeless despair for a few moments, before taking both her hands and pulling her to her feet. She staggered, too upset to stand of her own accord, and he bit his lip. "Mares, I know... I know, but we need somewhere more private. Anyone could walk in –"

"I c-can't go... out," she choked out slowly.

"I know, hon. I'm not going to make you." Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders for support and she was sobbing into him; after a moment's hesitation he lifted her easily. She didn't protest, or truthfully, respond in any way other than concealing her face in his chest as he carried her up the stairs to the library's second floor. "Here," he said gently, sitting himself down with his back against a wall and pulling the librarian down into his lap. "It's okay. He's not coming near you again, believe me." She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, silent tears still falling and her body still shaking in the aftershock. He tightened his hold around her protectively – needing to be there for her was the only thing keeping him from literally hunting down and murdering that scumbag right this second.

For at least an hour they sat there, not speaking, not thinking. The only movement from either was Jack stroking Mary's hair absent-mindedly; _she _was so quiet that he couldn't be sure if she was asleep or not.

"Mary?"

"...Mmm?" she replied after a pause, stirring slightly.

"I'm so sorry."

She pulled back so she could see his face, but physically pulling away as little as possible. "Me too," she whispered. "You were right... you were right, and I –"

"I never dreamed that he would do anything _like_ what he just tried. I was being possessive, and... what got me so angry was the fact that anyone else... would look at you that way. It wasn't a surprise – but hell, Mary... today was the only time I've ever been more furious than I was then."

Her eyes were puzzled and she glanced down at her hand in his, playing with his fingers. "... You're... my best friend here, you know," she admitted reluctantly.

Jack smirked, tilting his head to the side. "I think you're a fair bit more than a best friend to me by now."

Mary gasped quietly, then blushed with intense embarrassment at her own reaction. "I..." words failing her for once, she closed her mouth, before – in an unbelievably bold move – she kissed him lightly. Jack returned it with fervour, before half-chuckling and pulling away regretfully.

"Sorry, Mares..."

"What?" she asked quickly, mortification the only emotion registered on her face.

"Well... it's – it's not really funny at all, but... it's just... Tom was kissing you earlier, so..."

"Huh," she replied sulkily, leaning back on him again and exhaling slowly. Now that he was less worried about the librarian – still extremely worried, in context, but a hell of a lot less than he _had _been – his thoughts turned to almost unbearable anger at the image still burned in his brain from when he'd first walked in.

It was freaking him out to see Mary so dependent – he didn't have a problem with it in the slightest... but it was extremely unusual behavior for her, and that more than anything showed how shaken up she really was. _He_, on the other hand, still couldn't fathom what had occurred. Half of him wished he'd walked in before anything had happened at all, but the other half was busy thanking the Goddess that he'd walked in before it could go... further. He started playing with Mary's hair again, his mouth twisted into a violent grimace at the idea of Tom touching her. And he knew that it wasn't what _had_ happened that had Mary so upset... but the prospect of what could have.

"I'm never, never fighting with you again," he mumbled. She half-smiled, staring at their still-intertwined left hands.

"You say that now... but fighting is kind of inevitable, especially with two people like you and I."

"It's not worth it. I don't think you realise – I nearly went crazy."

"Me too," she replied quietly. In the next second, the door downstairs slammed open. Mary screamed, turning towards Jack as he instinctively pulled himself and her to their feet and wrapped both arms around her. Her eyes closed firmly, it was Jack's body language that confirmed her fears about who had just walked in.

"I'll give you five seconds," he spat viciously. "If you're not gone, I _am _going to kill you. The damn _nerve_ –"

"Please," he said in such a pathetic voice, Mary squinted both eyes open to see that it really was the same man that had attacked her. "I need to talk to you."

"Get _out_."

"I have to apologize –"

Jack swore loudly. "MAYBE you should have thought about where to stick your goddamn apology _before_ you put your filthy freaking hands anywhere near –" recognizing a lost cause, Tom turned his attention to the librarian, his eyes pleading.

"I don't know what came over me, Mary. You have no idea how sorry I am."

"Oh, well then." She managed to pull off sarcasm despite the waver in her voice. "Of course you're forgiven."

Tom shook his dark head sorrowfully. "You can't tell Veronica."

"Ha! I can't tell my little sister that her husband's a cheating pile of scum?" Jack interrupted furiously. "I mean, one of them already knew that –"

"I don't know what to say," he pleaded. "Just hear me out."

"Hear you _out_? I'll kick your sorry ass out, that's what I'll do. What the hell would you have done to her if I hadn't shown up?" He felt Mary tense, and lightly squeezed her waist apologetically. "You're more insane than I ever thought possible if you think Veronica isn't going to hear about this."

"Please, Jack," he begged. "I love her. She's my wife – we have a child to think about. You can't let one little mistake take away my whole world. I wouldn't have left someone as amazing as Jill if I wasn't sure that Veronica and I were meant to be."

"You call _that _a 'little' mistake? I thought I'd made some huge mistakes in my life, but I think I'd kill myself before I tried anything _close _to that. What the hell is going through that twisted head of yours?"

"I wasn't thinking, I swear. Jack, I'm begging you –"

"What I don't understand is why you're asking me," Jack snarled, "When Mary's the one who'd have every right in the world to have you put away if she wanted to." The tall man's face paled, and he stared at Mary imploringly.

"I..." she hesitated, looking up at Jack. "I don't want to break up their marriage, Jack."

"It won't be your fault. Don't you dare think that; not for a second. It'll be that dirtbag's fault, for not being able to keep his hands to himself."

Mary lowered her gaze to the floor, before speaking very quietly. "I don't want to see the looks on my Mom and Dad's faces when they find out. You know what they're like. If they found out... they'd..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "They're so over-protective already. Jack, they wouldn't let me run the library. They wouldn't... wouldn't let me see you." The truth in her words hit hard – of course her parents wouldn't let her near men, not after this.

"So you... don't want to tell anyone?"

"I think it will hurt more people than it will help," she said softly, touching the side of his face as a reassurance. Tom was watching the proceedings with a hopeful smile, and when the pair glared up at him, Mary exhaled slowly. Jack growled through his teeth, disgusted that he would have to do something that the man in front of him would benefit from.

"You're the luckiest, most undeserving bastard I've ever met."

"Thank you so much," he exhaled, total relief evident on his face.

"Listen," Jack continued aggressively. "If someone asks, we're not going to lie, right?" He glanced at Mary, who nodded. "And if anything else happens – _anything_, which includes being in the library, walking within a hundred metres of the library, being within a hundred metres of Mary, breathing air within two hundred metres of Mary, etcetera... I have an axe, I have a shovel, and I have an extremely large field. No-one would _ever_ find you."

His face growing even more pale, Tom nodded sharply. "Thank you for this," he said slowly. "You won't regret it."

"I doubt that," Jack scoffed in reply. Tom shook his head, then stared at the two of them in the awkward silence that followed. Jack shot him an incredulous glance. "Are you gonna show yourself out, or do I get to do the honors?"

"R-right. Bye. Thank you." He raced outside, leaving the librarian to close her eyes weakly.

"I'm going to have a heart-attack... die prematurely..."

"Not without me, you're not," Jack warned. "Come on. It's..." he checked his watch, and his eyebrows flew up. "5.30 – Goddess. The library should have closed up long ago. I'm surprised your parents haven't called Harris over here yet."

"I don't usually go home until six," she mumbled. "I spend the extra two hours writing."

"Let me guess..." he said slowly. "Even after everything that happened today... you're still not going to let me read your novel, are you?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"What if –"

"No."

"_Fine_," he frowned. "Come on, Mares – I'll take you home."

**xxx**

"JILL!" An excited female voice shouted, before a pair of fists pummelled the door of her farmhouse. "JILL, YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, _EVER_ BELIEVE THIS!"

"What, Ann?" the blonde asked patronizingly, opening the door and wondering what the redhead's latest theory was. Only yesterday, she'd sat through an agonizing lecture about the miracle of _how _dishwashing detergent made bubbles – she was _not _doing that again. "I'm kind of busy –"

"Tim just proposed to Elli!"

"What?" Jill gasped, forgetting any sense of avoiding a conversation. "When? How? Oh my Goddess!"

"Yeah. I know. We get to PLAN A WEDDING!"

Jill's excited mood dropped instantly. "You mean, _you _get to plan a wedding and bite anyone who tries to have a shred of input."

"Yeah, that. Oh... I'm not the romantic type, but it was _so_ romantic. They were at the inn for lunch, and he... held her hands and got down on one knee, and gave this beautiful speech – oh –" Flustered, she fanned herself. "I'm gonna start bawling. Jill, marry me?"

"_Tim_ did all that?" Jill asked incredulously, choosing to ignore Ann's last comment. "As in... Doctor Tim? The... shy... same one that I know?"

"Yes... and my goodness –" she snorted in a not-so-ladylike manner. "Karen nearly had a hissy fit, considering how... 'unromantic' her own proposal was. She went up and congratulated both of them with her eye kind of... twitching, then left quickly. I wouldn't want to be Rick tonight."

"Me neither," Jill grimaced.

"Hold on," Ann said, walking straight past Jill and into the house. "Where's Jack? Dibs on me telling him first."

"No idea," the blonde sighed slowly. "He left at... about half past three. It's not unusual for him to disappear for... hours at a time. There's truly no point in even guessing where he's gotten to this time. Gosh, I want to go congratulate them –" she giggled slightly. "Elli's been wanting this for... ages and ages. She'll be over the moon..."

"She was," Ann laughed. "Tim looked... frightened, is the only way to describe it, after her reaction. Screaming and crying and giggling all at once. I was a little frightened, myself."

"She's allowed to be excited," Jill scolded immediately. "I can't imagine how I would react if it was me. Ten times more dramatic than Elli, I would say."

"At least it's a possibility for you," Ann pouted. Jill promptly choked, apparently on thin air.

"W-what? No it... no it isn't..."

"Please. Gray's crazy about you."

"I – well – he loves me, I guess, but he can't love me _that _much..." she trailed off until her voice was nothing more than a whisper. "... Can he?"

"Can and does," Ann chucked, a teasing sparkle in her eyes. "Heck... I'd start thinking about your answer, if I was you."

"M-my answer?"

"Uh, yeah... 'Yes, yes, with all my heart!' or... 'I'm sorry... it's not you, it's me'... that kind of thing?" She frowned. "Oh for heaven's sake Jill, don't look at me like I've just told you I'm eloping with Gotz. It's not a big surprise – I mean, marriage is totally normal... you reach twenty-five without getting married, and you're kind of a spinster."

"In the city, if you get married before twenty-five, you're kind of an idiot!" Jill exploded. "I don't... want to ruin my relationship with Gray by rushing into things... I'm only twenty-one!"

"Your sister's twenty," the redhead pointed out. "She's married... with a daughter no less. She got married at eighteen, didn't she?"

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because... Veronica can never do the same thing as everyone else. She's born to stand out, okay? And I'm... I'm born to blend in. Simple as that. Can we drop it?"

"All I'm saying is that you should realise Gray might not have the same ideas as you. And... you should probably think about what you're going to do if he proposes." The waitress smiled at Jill, then sighed. "I don't think you realise how lucky you are... to have someone that loves you that much. How lucky Elli and Tim; Rick and Karen; Veronica and Tom are..." she shook her head, smirking. "Even Jack and Mary seem to be getting there, you know? And I'm... just... ugh. Cliff never cared about me anywhere near that much."

Jill sighed, propping her elbow against the kitchen bench. "You can't possibly know that."

"Can too. If he did care, it would have gone beyond a few lousy dates." She glanced at the ground, blinking furiously. "I... really liked him, Jill. But he never liked me that much back. And now... Goddess, it makes me so furious even to see him! He never bothered to _say_, you know, I don't think we should go out anymore... I guess he just assumed that I'd pick up on it now that we haven't gone anywhere together in at least a season." The corners of her lips trembling, she clapped one hand over her mouth and shook her head. "Sorry for rambling. That's just... been on my mind for awhile."

"Ann... you know how shy Cliff is –"

"Don't," she half-giggled, waving her hands to fend off the blonde who was reaching to hug her. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I've got a wedding to plan, remember? Everything's good. Everything's good."

"You sure?"

"Certain. Ah..." an awkward silence fell between the two of them, before Ann shrugged nervously. "I... guess I'll... go back to the inn, if Jack isn't here... or drop by the Poultry Farm to check that Rick's okay facing Karen's fury."

"Good idea," Jill smiled. "I guess I'll talk to you later on, yeah?"

"Yeah. See ya." Turning to walk briskly out of the gate, Ann mentally slapped herself. What the heck was that little breakdown back there? Sure, she'd been... somewhat jealous behind the excitement at Tim's proposal, simply because... well. Her dad wanted her to get married, and truth be told, _she _wanted to get married. Not just for the sake of it... but because, despite the way she dressed and spoke and acted... she _was_ a romantic at heart. And didn't every girl want to be swept off her feet to live happily ever after, deep down?

So, while she had to admit that she wasn't as oblivious or indifferent to the shy traveller as she would like to be – it truly seemed like nothing was ever going to happen. He hadn't ever shown an enthusiastic interest in her... nothing but a couple of sideward smiles, and awkward, light kisses during festivals to show that there ever had been anything between them at all. Moving on was the next step – finding someone else – but trapped in Mineral Town, how easy was that going to be? Not very.

"Ann?" someone said, touching her shoulder. She jumped, too lost in her own little world to notice anything around her.

"Jack," she scolded, hand clutched over her heart. "Don't scare me like that. I was thinking." He opened his mouth to make a predictable comment, but she hurriedly punched his arm. "I don't think it'd be worth your while to make that joke."

"O-kay," he retorted in a petulant voice. Despite the mild joking around, he looked unusually somber. Ann tilted her head, her eyebrows lowered in concern.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," he snapped defensively. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? What? Fine."

"... Obviously."

"I am fine. I'm just tired."

"But –"

"Ann, I don't want to talk, alright? Just shut it."

Ann looked completely taken-aback, well aware that it was the first time ever that Jack had actually been angry at her. "What the hell happened?"

He exhaled slowly. "Seriously, today is not the day to see how far you can stretch my patience. I can give you the answer without the experiment; it will _not _stretch far."

Incredulously, she shook her head. "You're actually mad at me, aren't you? Because I asked you what was wrong? Nice, Jack. You're good to your friends." She stormed off ahead of him, pushing open the inn's double doors and retreating inside. With a repentant sigh, he followed her through and instantly approached a head of red hair, not really paying attention to exactly who it was.

"Look, I'm sorry. I just –"

"Oh, hey Jack," the redhead beamed as she turned around.

"Veronica – ah, sorry. I thought you were Ann."

"Sit down with me!" she said instantly, gesturing to a table near her. Jack glanced around suspiciously; bizarrely, she seemed to pick up on his exact thoughts. "I think Tom's at the beach. He'll probably be there for a couple of hours, so I'm here by myself." Almost immediately, Jack's thoughts jumped to cornering the dark-haired man and giving him a real piece of his mind. And if all went well, tying sandbags to his legs and pushing him off the dock. "... Are you gonna sit down?"

"Ah... yeah. Yeah," he nodded quickly, taking the seat that she was pointing to. She took her own seat, scooting it closer to him and smiling half-heartedly. "You okay, Von?" he asked slowly. Her face lit up at the familiar pet-name – one she hadn't heard in years. Even Jack looked surprised that he'd used it.

"I'm just tired," she replied, using exactly the same excuse that Jack had attempted on Ann. Unlike Ann, though, Jack knew better than to push his sister's limits. She'd tell him if she wanted to – and in the meantime, he could only pray that she didn't ask him the same question... because, no matter how much he wanted to help Mary, his fury at Tom and reluctant but strong love for his sister were urging him to blurt everything out. He settled for moving over and giving her a sudden hug. "Okay..." she giggled, her face lighting up again. "Is everything –"

"So," he rushed on quickly before she could finish speaking. "Have... you heard anything from Mom? Like... when you were calling back to check on your daughter or anything?"

Her face suddenly somber, Veronica glanced away. "Jack... you have no idea how much she misses you."

"But not Jill, right? Has she even _mentioned _her?" The embarrassed blush covering Veronica's cheeks gave him his answer, and he shook his head in disbelief. "You'd think Jill wasn't even her daughter."

His sister's eyes widened in sudden shock. "Jack... maybe she isn't."

"I was there when she was born." He rolled his eyes, recognizing Jill and Veronica's shared trait of over-thinking and over-dramatising everything. "Believe me, she's definitely their kid. You can see them both in her as clear as day. We've all kind of got Dad's eyes, but she has Mom's hair as well." He exhaled. "I might feel better about it if that _was _the reason, though. The only reason that I can see... is that she never... did as well as you and I did. In... anything, I guess. But if that's why..." he stifled an indignant sigh, bringing his hand to his forehead. "Jill shouldn't have to prove herself. Mom should love her just because she's her daughter."

"Mom's having a hard time since Dad died," Veronica pointed out. "I'm sure she didn't _intend _to ignore Jill when she asked me about you – she's just getting a little bit forgetful. She has too much on her mind. The..." she hesitated, shooting Jack a sidewards glance. "The company is stressing her out a little. She wants it to go to Tom and I, because we're there in the city and everything... but it automatically goes to males first." She shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance. "I mean... at least it's you, and we don't have any uncles or guy cousins, right?"

Jack was silent for a few moments, before slowly replying. "Von... maybe... you guys _should_ take it."

"Really?" she blurted, sounding more than a little over-excited. "I – I mean, I know Tom and I would love to –"

"Look," he cut in, a wry smile on his face. "I'm not certain yet... but we'll talk about it some more later on."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Ah... well, I –"

"Gray," Jack called out sharply, rising to his feet as the blacksmith walked through the front door, looking exhausted. He walked over to the siblings, removing his cap with one hand and running through his hair with the other.

"What's up," he asked with a sigh. Veronica beamed at him.

"Hi! Long day?"

"Yep," he said, taking the seat between the two of them.

"Look," Jack said quickly, sitting down again and interrupting them both. "I've been meaning to talk to you." His mouth twisted slightly, as if he was debating whether or not to say what was on his mind. He eventually decided to. "Tell you the truth, I wasn't comfortable with the fact that you let Jill walk home by herself from here the other night. I mean, I understand that it _is _Mineral Town... but basic courtesy –" He stopped speaking abruptly as Gray shot to his feet, fists clenched.

"That _jerk _let her walk alone?"

"You don't have to be quite so hard on yourself. I wouldn't call you a jerk, exactly –"

"Not me," he snarled. "That idiot ex-boyfriend of hers."

There was a long pause; Jack's face deadly calm and emotionless. "Excuse me?"

"I would've come down and walked her home if I knew."

"Why were you upstairs in the first place?"

His mouth pulled into a grimace. "I don't think either of them wanted me sitting there with them through dinner –"

It was Jack's turn to shoot to his feet, a snarl escaping him. "But you were on a date with Jill. How did Tom even come into it?"

"I wasn't on a date with her," he said, looking puzzled. "She was having dinner with Tom."

An even longer pause followed Gray's statement; the blacksmith's eyes slowly narrowed as he realised the situation for what it really was. "She... told you she was on a date with me."

"Huh," Jack said in a monotone, his face set in stone as he turned and left the inn, obviously heading for the farmhouse. Gray sank back down in his seat, resting his head in one hand and almost oblivious to Veronica's presence. She gently reached over and rested her hand on his arm.

"It's weird for you too, huh?"

"They've got a history together," he choked. "I know he's your husband, but he _hurt _her, and she'd still lie for him. She'd use me to lie for him."

"Jill doesn't scheme like that," she replied in a calming voice. "I know my sister. She does things that can hurt people, but when she does them, she doesn't realise that anyone _could _get hurt. I'm certain that she didn't realise what that situation was implying. She's got the most well-meaning soul in the world... she's just not always sure how to use it yet." She bit her lip. "Goddess, I'm jealous of her. She just radiates charisma, and... Tom loves me, I'm sure of it, and I know he's going to be faithful to me. But at the same time... I realise that she's a big temptation for him. It's... hard."

Gray glanced up, his forehead crinkled as he stared intently at the redhead. "I swear you just read my mind. Except it's... the opposite way around. I see him as a temptation for her, kind of..."

"Maybe we're both too paranoid," she laughed. The man opposite gave her a half-smile, and she sighed. "I know that I'm not Jill's favourite person, so what I'm about to say might sound totally inappropriate – but I know exactly how confused you're feeling... and I guess you know how I'm feeling. So... if you want to talk sometime, or you're willing to listen while I talk your ear off..." she trailed off with a hopeful smile, and he shrugged.

"There's no harm, is there?"

"Thanks," she exhaled, relief apparent on her face. "I just... feel confused sometimes, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing here. Obviously I don't want to start a fight – so I can't really bring it up with Tom. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person struggling. I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of people in a similar situation... but we're in the _exact _same situation." She glanced up and did a double-take as her husband walked through the door. Nasty purple bruising was beginning to form under one eye, spreading over his left cheekbone and over the bridge of his usually perfect nose, which was looking... unusually crooked. "What on earth has he done?" she exhaled, pushing to her feet.

"I fell," he said simply, trying to step around her.

"Off a mountain? Out of an aeroplane?" she asked in disbelief, reaching up to touch his swollen cheek. He slapped her hand away with a growl, walking around her without a word and stalking up the stairs. A worried expression on her face, she turned back to Gray. "Sorry... I'd better..."

"Yeah," he said with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it." Though, as she hurried up the stairs after her husband, he couldn't help but be envious of whatever or whoever had messed Tom up.

**xxx**

The thunderous slamming of the front door echoed through the entire farmhouse, making Jill squeal and drop the bowl of salad in her hands to with a resounding crash. "For the love of – Jack, you've wrecked half our dinner." She glanced up, her eyes widening at the livid expression on her brother's face. "What happened?"

"My sister is a sickening liar, that's what."

"Veronica?"

"No, not Veronica!" he exploded. "You! For the love of the Goddess, did you really think I wouldn't find out? I can't believe how insensitive you are – all I can say is you don't deserve Gray to treat you the way he does, considering how you go and treat him in return."

"I don't –"

"Tom," he spat with pure venom in his voice. His mind was racing with unwanted pictures; Tom cornering Jill like he had Mary. The combined thoughts of the two girls he tried to protect most in the world – and one had been _stupid _enough to throw herself into that potential situation. "Freaking _dinner_ with _Tom_, Jill. Why the hell did you keep that from me?"

"You wouldn't have let me go," she said quietly, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"You're _damn right _I wouldn't have let you! What's _wrong _with you?"

"I'm an adult, Jack," she retorted defensively. "You can't run my whole life for me – I moved here for my independence! You can't expect me to come and get your permission for everything I want to do. I was here first, right? I was doing just fine before you came along, and – there's nothing else to say! I _need _to be an independent adult."

"Independence is completely subjective," he scoffed. "It something that you should earn, and you've proved as clear as day that you can't deal with it. On that point, you've proved that you certainly don't _deserve _it. You know what they say, and it's completely true; if you're going to act like a child –"

"I'm an adult!" she screamed angrily. "You can go on and on and on for the whole day about me not deserving independence – whatever. I don't care, I don't care. You're not one of my parents, you're my brother, and you _can't _control me –"

"If our parents had given a damn about _you_, maybe you wouldn't have turned out pulling stunts like that!" he roared in reply. Her face went deathly white, signifying that a major line had been crossed, but he didn't stop. "I – I'm just your brother? I practically brought you up by myself. Who the heck else has been there for you through everything? _Everything_, Jill. And I've finally had enough. The –" his voice faltered, almost crippled with emotion. "The fact that you would lie to me... after I've been here for you this _whole time_... lie for _him_, after he left you without giving a crap how bad you were hurting... that shows where your loyalties lie."

She still hadn't replied or made any effort to; now, her face pale and eyes blank, she moved over to her closet and started pulling clothes into a small suitcase. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked bitterly.

"The inn."

"Veronica and Tom are in the spare room," he reminded her. "Maybe you should send Veronica to stay here in your room, and you can stay alone with precious Tom at the inn."

"I'll ask Gray and Cliff if I can sleep in Kai's bed," she whispered. "If not, Karen and Popuri might have me."

"See if I care," he scowled, crossing his arms over his chest and turning so his back was to her. She smiled dryly.

"You've just made it pretty plain that you don't," she mumbled, shouldering her way out the door.

**xxx**

**Argh. Well, I said in some of your review replies awhile back that there was going to be one incident that set everything in motion... there you go XD. I'll get started on the next chapter for you quick-smart. Finished all my exams, so I'm no longer stressing like crazy :) :) :) which means more updates, more quickly!**


	41. Chapter 41

**Aha. XD. I updated in a little over a week again! Let's hope I make a solid habit of it, huh?**

**Begin the countdown until my Summer holidays – they start November 26, baby, then NO MORE SCHOOL until the beginning of February! Moreeeeeee time to write!**

**For once, I haven't got all that much to ramble on about, which is... quite puzzling. Ah... I shall apologize for the medium-sized chapter, which WOULD be a long-sized chapter if I didn't need some of the material that was originally going to be in it for the next chapter.**

**Reviews make my heart happy and my hands type faster :D**

**Jean Cooper **– Hehe. I see the Jill sandwich now. Thanks for all your support, Val – I appreciate it more than you'd believe.

**kelley28** – Aw girl, did you really believe I wouldn't throw Jack into the middle of all that drama? Pfft. I'm not THAT evil... or perhaps I am :P thank you so much for your review!

**RyanMan14** – Thanks! Haha – I know you like Elli, sorry I made Tim propose XD. Well, hopefully he's an alternate universe Tim and is super social and fun and awesome and deserves Elli. Yes? Thanks again!

**DemonDude12** – Yeah, look how quick I updated! Well, it COULD have been like... ten days earlier, but eleven days is pretty decent, I think. Heh. Yeah, I'm... not happy with Tom right now. -glares at Tom-

**Starlight Amethyst** – I agree about your definition of Tom... except I'd probably throw in a whole lot more curse words and punch him a few times if I saw him down the street XD. Thanks heaps for reviewing.

**Devilishduck** – I know, it was a bit of a heated argument, wasn't it? An idiot... is a very good way to describe what Jill is acting like at the moment. I still love her though :)

**DoubleKK** – Ha! I can't really kill off Tom, because first, I'd be terrible at writing it, and second, this story may be a little too tame for the particularly gruesome death you're wishing on him. XD. But come on, you must like him a little... -dodges shoe- okay, okay. I went and researched Archie Comics after you said it :P and heck yeah, I was a little Pokemon fanatic. Of course you're one of my favourites KK! Come on, you knew that! XD.

**Muu-chan** – Apparently, you CAN hate him more than you did, huh? Hopefully I didn't leave you in suspense for too long! Thanks so much for reviewing. It means a lot.

**Ultra Drama Queen** – Wow, my heart did a little happy dance when I saw the uber-long review! :3 thanks! Hahaha. It's so cute and it makes me so happy that you get into the story as much as you do. I know that Jill is being an idiot at the moment – and if you look really carefully, there's a little shout-out to you somewhere in this chapter. Try spot it ;)

**BeautifulAuthor** – Hehe... thanks, I think XD. I updated!

**The Scarlet Sky **– You're making my kind of giggle and raise my eyebrows here because _you _are calling _me _amazing, which means something weird is up with the universe. Ahaha – I did exactly the same thing, feeling sorry and trying to help out, except I got stuck with Liam, who _bores me to tears. _I didn't even unlock Keifer the first time I played! Imagine how devastated I was! Ahh. And, I hate how off-topic I am, but HOW DO YOU MAKE LUCIANO STAY WITH YOU? I can't do it. Grrr. I hate life. XD thanks so much Scarlet!

**melii101** – Aw, there's HEAPS of GrayxFarmer chick out there. Yep, Tom... I don't think he's anyone's favourite character right now. Jack is love :3 and you're sooooooo lucky you have a brother like him. Hope I updated quick enough and you enjoy the chapter!

**Katrina Tora** – Thanks so much, 700 reviews is too much to even believe. I hope you're grinning like crazy at the fast-ish update again!

**Random Jelly Beans** – Ha! The Wii is a perfectly good excuse for a short review, don't you worry, and honestly – it means so much that you even reviewed at all! :P I take it that you enjoyed the chapter, and once again, thank you so so so so much.

**jsaojfo** – Kill Kill Kill! XD I'm sure that's what a lot of people are chanting about Tom right now. That's probably what Jack's dreams are made up off... a crowd cheering KILL KILL KILL as he bashes Tom up like crazy. I'm glad that you're mad at Jill, 'cause you're supposed to be. Hehe. She's not really understanding everything that she has.

**Dreaming Hoping Wishing** – Ohhhh. As soon as you said you were Cryptic Love, I clicked like... duh. XD. Tom is evil, Tim and Elli are cuuute, Jill is stubborn and insecure :3 it's so much fun to write, and it's awesome to hear that you're having fun reading it as well. Veronica's getting better – you know, she's not totally unselfish now, but she's trying a little. Which is good. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

**AsianFlipGurl** – CONTROVERSY! Naww. Thank you so much! Yeah, if Tom really wanted to try something on someone, I don't think he'd stop just because they were married. But I guess he might not mess with Mary again because he sees how angry and tough Jacky can get :) so I hope you like the chapter!

**xPaparazzixChickx** – Awww! Did it really? That's so good to hear, even though I'm sorry it made you sad... and then in a weird way, I'm really happy it made you sad, because that means I wrote it properly. If I'm making any sense XD. LMAO that you still can't hate Tom. You really like the bad boys, huh? Heh... it's okay – every character has to have someone to like them... you just happen to be the only one who likes HIM :P we shall see more of Cliff this chapter, and a LITTLE bit of Veronica. So thanks for the awesomely long review once again; I love you for it!

**Ekoaleko** – Ahaha. As if you didn't cheat XD. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. (Kidding, just in case your sarcasm detector broke down or something.) God, it was really really hard to write that scene without some heavy-duty swearing – I actually considered putting it in there, but somehow managed to do without it. I'll take the story to Natsume, see if they'll make a new game for it ;) complete with a bitchy sister and sleazy ex boyfriend.

**Sunny Morning** – Thanks so much... your review brought the biggest smile to my face, seriously. I sent you a message, but again, don't worry at all about borrowing anything you need to. I'm not picky, but it's so much nicer when people actually bother to ask :D Haha – I don't hate Paparazzi Chick for liking Tom, so I definitely don't hate you for liking Veronica. Thanks so much.

**xTrueEmotion** – I've been told that it takes a long time to read the whole thing – I'll have to go back and do that sometime. XD. Thanks so much for the advice about actions/talking in different lines... I'm not a huge fan of my enter button, so sometimes I try to fit a lot in one paragraph, but it's really good that you pointed out that it gets confusing. I've tried to fix it up a bit in this next chapter :) hope your homework didn't keep you busy for too long!

**Thank you so much – you guys really are what keeps me so eager to write this.**

**xxx**

It was eight o'clock on the first night of winter, and Gray was trudging up the stairs towards his shared room at the inn, well past exhaustion. Just hours earlier, he'd said something to Jack that Jill obviously hadn't wanted him to know... and, just looking at Jack's face in the instant that he told him, it was perfectly clear just _how _angry he was that Jill had been out to dinner with Tom.

She'd lied to Jack – and lied to Gray as well, in perspective... but... he couldn't be mad at her for it. Anyone who could see how confused Jill was couldn't be truly irritated by her – she was so torn up, it was almost agonizing to watch... and wonder when she would finally snap under the pressure. More than anything else, he wanted to help her... but it was that much harder when she neither wanted to be helped, nor accepted the fact that she _needed_ to be helped.

She wasn't as strong as she'd like to be. And wishing that she was would only ever get her so far. At some point, the realisation was going to come crashing down – that fooling herself was exactly that. Fooling herself.

So, besides his regular, constant worrying about Jill, he now had to worry about how she would cope with what would undoubtedly be a furious scolding from Jack. That, hand in hand with the extended hours he'd begun working at the forge... the unusual amount of attention Veronica was paying to him and the sudden, pressing worries that always seemed to be occupying his mind about his 'future'... though he didn't realise, he was under far too much stress for his own good – and Jill wasn't the only one close to snapping.

Jill...

"Jill?" he said out loud in confusion, catching a glimpse of blonde hair in his peripheral vision. Sure enough, his tiny girlfriend was curled up – sleeping? Against a wall in the corridor outside his room. Brow furrowing with concern, he quickly ducked down and pressed his hand to her cheek, vaguely noticing the small suitcase leaning next to her.

"Huh," she mumbled, lowering her eyebrows and reluctantly opening her eyes. "O-oh. Gray... hi..."

"Hi." Gray considered giving her a few moments, but the oddity of the situation prevented him from ignoring it. He sighed. "Jill... what're you doing?"

The blonde's gaze travelled from his face to the bag next to her, and her face hardened. "I... I had a fight with Jack," she admitted quietly. "I came looking for you – you weren't here, so I sat down and... must've..."

"Fallen asleep," he supplied plainly, seeing that her mind wasn't functioning at full speed yet. "A fight...? You mean... a big fight?"

"I'm here," she pointed out quietly. "Not at home. So... well, yeah, it was bad. Gray..." she bit her bottom lip nervously, wringing her hands together. "I hate to ask you this... I _hate _to ask you this. But... could I..." she seemed to be struggling to finish her request. "It's just, I have nowhere to stay now that I'm not at home – Veronica and Tom are in the other spare room, and –"

"Oh," he cut in, suddenly comprehending. "Of course you can. Cliff won't mind, I'm certain."

"Thank you so much," Jill exhaled in one quick breath of relief. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do, otherwise... I mean, I'd understand if you didn't want me –"

"You," the blacksmith said, holding her shoulders firmly, "Should never think that again. Never. You _know_ you can come to me for absolutely anything. And – 'didn't want you'... Goddess, Jill." He trailed off chuckling, helping her to her feet and shaking his head, grabbing the small suitcase. "Are you okay?" She remained silent, and her lack of an answer made his heart sink. "Was it really that bad?"

A long silence followed his question, before Jill made a peculiar choking noise and buried her head in her hands. "The worst fight I've ever had with him."

"Don't – don't cry," he begged, pulling her towards him. "We won't talk about it."

"Sorry," she mumbled, wiping both eyes impatiently with the back of her hand. "He was just... so angry at me, and I – Goddess, I _hate _him!"

"You do not," Gray retorted immediately, pulling his hat up from his eyes as he wondered what on earth had gotten Jill so angry and defensive. She didn't truly mean that she hated Jack, that much was certain – but the fact that she would even think about saying it showed that something was very seriously wrong.

"Do so," she replied, though the hesitant note in her voice betrayed her. Gray half-smiled, shaking his head.

"Come on. You look as tired as I am." Holding open the door, he waited until she had walked through before closing it gently. "Bathroom's through there... get changed, then straight to bed."

"Yes dad," she groaned, rolling her eyes as she struggled to drag the suitcase that Gray had lifted so easily along into the bathroom. Once inside, she glanced curiously around a room that she had never been in.

It was spotless; undoubtedly a side-effect of Ann's cleaning... and larger than her bathroom at home, she noted with a frown. There was no sign of either masculinity or femininity – it looked like a hotel room. Which it was, but a fairly _permanent _hotel room, and it was strange to see it looking so... impersonal.

"What the hell," she exhaled under her breath, realising rather abruptly that she was obsessing over that fact that her boyfriend's bathroom was neat and tidy. She quickly opened her suitcase and pulled out a pair of trackpants with a singlet – honestly, she was too drained to even think about Gray's opinion of her clothes – then quickly brushed her teeth, washed her face and threw her hair into a messy ponytail.

"Do you _want _to freeze?" Gray asked incredulously as she walked out of the bathroom. The girl was a stick figure to begin with; it was the start of winter – and she was wearing a _singlet_? "Besides," he added at the glare thrown in his direction, "As long as you're sharing a room with both me _and _Cliff –" he accentuated his roommate's name meaningfully, "– you're wearing layers. Lots and lots of non-revealing layers."

"Possessive," she groaned, sauntering over to touch her forehead against his lightly. He glared at her.

"Wouldn't you be?"

She blushed at that, grabbing his hand and looping his fingers through hers. "I'd understand why you might be possessive if _you _were your girlfriend..." she trailed off, forehead creasing as she realised that her statement had made no sense whatsoever.

"You really are tired," Gray smirked. "Put on nine windcheaters and fourteen pairs of trackpants before Cliff comes in, then straight to bed." Jill stuck her tongue out at him and kneeled down to her suitcase, pulling out a cotton zip-up jacket and grudgingly shrugging her way into it.

"Happy?"

"Zip it up."

Rolling her eyes, she complied. "Are you happy _now_?"

"What did you do, find the thinnest jacket you could?" he asked grouchily, still not happy with her apparel considering that another young man was shortly going to be walking in, and _murdered _if he let his eyes wander even for a moment. A smile made its way onto the blonde's face, even though her eyes still looked ridiculously tired – how long had it been since she'd slept? And something in her face... though Gray couldn't for the life of him figure out what... made her look, frankly – miserable, worried and stressed. "Jill," he sighed, "Please get some sleep. I'm going to stay up so Cliff isn't... confronted."

"I should've gone to Karen and Rick," she sighed as she reluctantly pulled back the covers on the spare bed. "They wouldn't give me an eight-thirty bedtime." Once she was in bed, sitting upright with the covers up to her waist, she lifted both arms towards the blacksmith. "Kiss goodnight?"

"Such a little girl," he grumbled, making a big exaggeration out of the fact that she was making him walk six or seven steps across the room to her. He touched his lips to her forehead gently and she scowled in disappointment; only smiling when he lightly pressed them on her mouth. "Do you need me to tuck you in?" he asked sarcastically as she lay down, pulling the pillow further down and the blankets further up.

"Could you?"

"You can do it yourself," he said quickly, blushing at the unexpected answer. Jill smirked, stuck her tongue out, then closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, still almost immediately. Gray raised an incredulous, jealous eyebrow – it could take him hours to fall asleep, and he certainly wouldn't have been able to if the tables were turned and _Jill _was watching _him _sleep. It wasn't the first time he'd thought it – it probably wasn't the first time he'd thought it just in that _day –_ but she really was an incredibly weird girl.

Hell, he loved her anyway. Probably loved her more because of it.

An hour passed before he heard Cliff's familiar footsteps outside the door. The late time wasn't uncommon – Cliff often stayed at the church until unearthly hours now that he was working during the day. Gray shot Jill a quick, fond glance as the door opened – she was curled up with the blankets pulled protectively around herself and a slight pout on her sleeping face.

"Hi," Cliff sighed. He crossed the room and sat on his own bed, pulling his shoes off and pulling a handful of crumpled notes and dull coins from his pocket. He dropped to his knees and slid one hand under his bed, his face brightening as he discovered a canvas bag which he promptly deposited the money into. During this whole process, he remained oblivious to the person parallel to him.

"How much've you got now," Gray asked, his voice tinged with mild amusement as he silently wondered how long it would take his roommate to realise the occupied bed. Cliff bit his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"I made about sixty today," he said quietly. "I'm only about fifty dollars off until I can buy it. I..." he finally glanced up, but didn't really react much apart from a thoughtful frown. "Gray?"

"Yes...?" he asked patronizingly.

Cliff inhaled, exhaled, then started speaking slowly. "Personally, I can't believe this is the _first_ time I've ever said this to anyone, but... your girlfriend's in Kai's bed." The smirk promptly snapped off Gray's face and he growled disapprovingly.

"Not funny."

"She _is_."

"I'm aware of that," he retorted instantly. "She's..." he glanced over at the sleeping blonde and lowered his voice. "She's got to stay with us for a while. She had a big fight with Jack... either he kicked her out or she left, but can we... can we put her up for awhile?"

"Put her up, or put up with her?" the shy traveller said with a helpless smile, rather pleased at his little joke. The blank, unamused stare that Gray was giving him made him promptly shut up. "Yeah, of course," he mumbled, back to his quiet demeanor. Cliff picked up a towel and clothes to sleep in, shuffling into the bathroom for a shower – and Gray was left to watch – and worry about – the troubled girl sleeping across from him.

**xxx**

When Jack woke up the next morning, it was to silence – not uncommon, as he woke up at around six to get the farmwork done, while Jill prided herself on sleeping until at least nine, no matter what the circumstances. It was when he walked into the main area of the house and noticed her empty bed that he panicked – before the memories of their argument the previous night came flooding back and he gritted his teeth angrily.

How _dare _she – lying to him was bad enough, but then making an idiot out of him by storming out – making it look like he was the insensitive one; like he'd forced her out to fend for herself while he was in a temper. But he wasn't comfortable not knowing where she'd slept, or what idiotic thing she might have done in her distressed state last night. He was, first and foremost her brother, no matter how irresponsible and childish she got. He should be... looking after her, not letting someone else do it... and particularly when he didn't know who that 'someone else' was.

"Goddess," he mumbled, shaking his head and walking over to the fridge. Jill was, as she'd so firmly insisted, an adult. _A goddamn stupid one. _She'd made her bed and she could damn well lie in it – why should he feel guilty? Of course, talking it through logically with himself wasn't making him any _less_ guilty – but there was nothing he could do about it. He was _not _apologizing to her for words that he saw as perfectly justified considering what she'd done, and he wasn't sure that he would accept Jill's apology if she knocked on the door right now.

It was an hour later, after he came dangerously close to finding himself with a decapitated leg due to the careless way he was swinging an axe at the field – when he finally realised that fieldwork was going to be neither productive, nor efficient in distracting his thoughts. There was basically one person that he wanted to see at the moment – one person that he could even cope with talking to and confiding in at the moment – and with that realisation, he discarded the axe and set off to the library without another thought.

"Mary."

The librarian glanced up in surprise, failing to completely disguise the smile that flashed across her face. "Jack." Her voice faltered slightly at the stony look he was giving the wall behind her. "What – what's wrong?"

He exhaled impatiently, rubbing his forehead with the palm of one hand before striding forward and surprising the librarian with a tight hug. Shocked but worried, she circled her fingertips across his back in a calming, reassuring motion. "Jack, what's wrong?" she repeated quietly, pulling away and touching his face lightly. "You can tell me."

"Jill," he murmured, shaking his head. "Jill."

"Is she okay?"

"Depends what you mean by okay," he growled. "Physically, I think she's fine, but I'm pretty certain she's mentally unstable."

"You had an argument," she stated gently, barely even a question. Jack nodded stiffly, balling one fist and pressing it to his mouth while closing his eyes.

"Just a small one," he choked sarcastically. "Dammit Mary, I... I don't know what goes through her head." He opened his eyes and shot a weak smile at the librarian, who was waiting patiently for an explanation. "I'm so sorry – how are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she sighed. "Jack..."

After a brief pause, he launched into an explanation. "A few nights ago, Jill and Gray –" he watched her face carefully, but was surprised to see that she barely reacted. "Jill told me she was having dinner with him... but at the end of the night, it was Ann who walked her home, not Gray. I asked Jill about it and she gave me this weak explanation along the lines of... you know, what could possibly happen in Mineral Town, and how it wasn't necessary for him to walk her."

"That's impossible," Mary said incredulously, shaking her head. "No way – he, of all people, wouldn't let her walk home by herself."

"I know," he replied, his mouth twitching in anger."I know that now, but I didn't then. I let it go for a little while, then confronted Gray about it." He paused with a bitter grimace. "He was furious – but not at me. You know what he said to me? He said, 'That jerk let her walk home alone?' Dammit, she'd gone and had dinner with Tom; _lied _to my face about it."

One hand flew up to cover the librarian's mouth, her eyes widening behind her glasses. "No." Jack nodded grimly and she shook her head in utter disbelief, before a realisation hit hard. "Oh my Goddess – Tom didn't..."

"No," Jack assured her quickly, "I sincerely hope that she's not too dumb to tell meif _that_ happened."

She nodded, relief apparent on her face, before it switched to sympathy and concern. "Oh, Jack. You yelled at her?"

"You don't think she deserved it?"

"No, I do, I do," she insisted. "I just... hope you weren't too hard on her. You've told me yourself that you're worried about her – and like you just said, none of us know what's really going on in her head. It could be harder for her than we... know..." she trailed off meekly at the scowl on Jack's face. "Or not?"

"Nothing excuses that behaviour," he said plainly.

"I'm not making excuses for her. Anyway, that isn't an excuse – it's a reason. Maybe this is her way of sorting things out for herself."

"I just... I _want _to be mad at her," he explained quickly. "I want to be able to ridicule what she's done, and blame her for this mess... because..." he closed his eyes again, "If I can't blame her, I have to blame myself, and that's something that I can't... cope with. Not now. Mary, I don't know what to do..."

"Here," she said quietly, taking his arm and pulling him down to sit next to her on the sofa against the wall. "You don't need to do anything – listen to me. Listen, Jack. I know how much you've been there for Jill... I'm right, aren't I, that you were like a parent to her?" He nodded silently and Mary continued. "See? It's natural that if you thought that you'd brought her up, you'd blame yourself for _her_ mistakes. But you can't do that... you can't blame yourself. She's an independent person and she makes her own choices, whether or not you want to believe otherwise. Let her go – let her come to terms with her behaviour in her own time, without getting her defensive. Okay?"

He glanced sideways, before a reluctant smile fought onto his face. "You look after me well, Mares," he said.

"I try," she said with a raised eyebrow, "But generally I'm the one that needs to be looked after. This is a one off occasion." He smiled at her warmly and she smiled back, no words passing – or needed – between them.

**xxx**

It was a knock on the door that woke Jill up at about ten that morning; she rolled over and mumbled quietly to herself. "Jack, can you get it?" When her brother's voice didn't reply and whoever was at the door knocked again, she begrudgingly opened her eyes. "What – huh?" Far from the rustic farmhouse she was used to waking up in, she was... at the inn? She glanced around, but seeing no-one in the room, she frowned in puzzlement. And _what _was she doing in Kai's bed, exactly?

It took a little while, but realisation eventually hit after some more painstaking confusion. Her heart sank when she realised she was fighting with Jack, but she gritted her teeth at remembering some of the comments that had been exchanged the previous night. Hell, he probably didn't even care right now.

The person at the door knocked yet again and Jill impatiently rolled out of bed, storming over and throwing the door open. "Y-es?"

Veronica's face fell quickly, before an amused smile crept onto her face. "Hey there, Jill. Sleep over, did you?"

"None of your business, is it?" she asked, all-too-aware that she had just gotten out of bed and couldn't really be classified as 'awake' while Veronica stood in front of her, about four inches taller and looking like she was waiting for a photographer with her immaculate makeup, perfect curls tied up in a high ponytail, short dress and low but still noticeable heels. Most of the girls in Mineral Town wouldn't bother to dress up like that, even on festival days, but it was normal apparel for Veronica. "What are you here for?"

"I –" she peered over Jill's shoulder, obviously scanning the room. "Are you here alone?"

"Seems like it," she said suspiciously. "Why? Who are you looking for?"

"What? Uh, no-one. I'm just... I should go." Jill nodded in agreement at that. "So, I'll... see you later, Jill."

When Jill had closed the door, Veronica let out a shaky breath. She'd come by to see if Gray wanted to grab a drink or go for a walk and talk about Jill and Tom – she'd come reasonably close to having a heart-attack when it _had _been Jill who'd answered the door. But her perceptive eyes hadn't missed the suitcase lying next to the only bed that hadn't been made – a suitcase that had been with her family on holidays and spent years in her house – one of Jack's old suitcases, which meant... that Jill had moved out.

Why, though? Was it because of what she'd overheard yesterday – because Jill had been to dinner with Tom? She felt slightly sick as she realised the dent this could potentially put in their plans – and just when Jack had suggested that he might pass the company on to them. Biting down on her bottom lip nervously, she turned and raced down the stairs to find Jack and do some damage control.

Inside the room, Jill was scowling pointlessly at the wall. She wasn't _stupid. _Veronica had obviously come looking for Gray. Her fists clenched of their own accord and she let out a slow breath, her head spinning as she walked into the bathroom and examined her face in the mirror.

It had hit her hard just then – if Veronica wanted Gray, she would get him. All the flaws in Jill's appearance suddenly leapt out at her in comparison to how sickeningly perfect her sister had looked just then, and always _did _look.

Her skin could do with a darker tan and she could stand to get rid of the few freckles scattered across her nose; her teeth weren't as straight as they possibly could be. Her eyes themselves were okay, but her eyelashes weren't completely black without mascara and her eyebrows were too blonde. Her nose was that little bit too'cute' and Goddess, what she wouldn't give to have high cheekbones or dimples – Veronica had both, and Jack's dimples were adorable.

Had she missed out on _everything _in her family? You would think that if she couldn't be the smartest or the most ambitious, she could at least be the most attractive, or the funniest, or the most charming. The best at sport? No. A brilliant artist, musician, dancer? Not really. Some traits belonged solely to Veronica or Jack, but for the most part, both of them had a share of everything, and Jill... had somehow missed out on the lot.

Veronica was, quite simply, stunning. If Jill was going to be totally – though reluctantly – honest, she had to admit that her sister was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen who didn't have the assistance of airbrushing and glossy magazines. And Gray – Gray would have to think the same thing, wouldn't he? No matter how wonderful he was about it, it had to be there in the back of his mind. She had stood back and _watched _throughout high school as Veronica stole countless boyfriends from other girls... just by batting her eyelashes. That's not to say the girl didn't love a challenge – she'd try harder for Gray if he put up any resistance to her. And she _would _get him.

"She's married," Jill reminded herself breathlessly, her heart beating quickly at the thought of losing Gray to her sister. "She's – she's married. She loves Tom. Loves him... she wouldn't take Gray." A few deep breaths later, she shook her head and walked out of the bathroom at the same time Cliff entered the room.

He had an uncharacteristic, beaming smile on his face – he nodded to Jill in acknowledgement but didn't say a word as he crossed to his bed and pulled out the canvas bag again, depositing a handful of notes and coins. Jill watched, her troubles lost for a few moments in her confusion. Her eyebrows raised slightly as he twisted the top of the bag and she saw that it was almost full to the brim with notes and coins – peculiar, for a man who was well-known for having next to nomoney.

"You've been saving, Cliff?"

"Yeah," he blushed, the pleased expression still on his face. "Y-yeah. I'm finished saving now, though... I made it." He gazed at the bag that held his accomplishment, looking slightly incredulous. "I made it."

"What were you saving _for_?" Jill asked curiously. She frowned as the grin quickly snapped off Cliff's face, and was replaced with a worried look. "What?"

"N-nothing," he stammered. "It's... a secret. I –" he glanced around, looking eternally thankful as Gray walked into the room. "Have to go... late..." Cliff ducked past the blacksmith and out the door, leaving Jill staring after him incredulously. Her gaze traveled to Gray, and he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"What was that?" she asked, as if Gray had the slightest clue what she was talking about. He hesitated, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know what happened before I walked in."

"Cliff came in – really happy," she said slowly, "And pulled a bag out from under his bed, and put money in it. I mean, the bag was _full_ of money. There must've been at least a eight or nine hundred – but anyway, when I asked him what he was saving for, he went all shifty on me and ran out. You don't think it's something illegal, do you?"

"I'm sure it's not," Gray coughed, pulling his hat down to cover his face – a habit that he had been doing less and less around Jill. She noticed the movement, narrowed her eyes, then gasped.

"You know! Don't you? You know what he's saving for." Gray bit his lip, glancing at the door and wondering how far he could run before she talked it out of him. "Gray, tell me!"

"I don't think I'm meant to tell anyone."

She raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "You're not _meant _to? Come on, tell me." He paused, apparently not convinced that it would be worth his while to tell her, before she shrugged. "Or, you know, I could let my imagination run away with me... and we'll see where that takes us, will we?"

"No!" he said quickly, seeing the danger in _that _situation all too well. "I'll tell you, but... Goddess, Jill, you've got to keep quiet about it. Okay?"

"No problem," she replied cheerfully. She sighed at the look he gave her. "Well, I'll try."

After a few more moments, he shook his head and started to speak. "Cliff... has been saving up for a blue feather." Jill choked and clapped her hand over her mouth, making Gray look at her sharply. "Don't – don't react like that. That means you think it's a big deal, which means you're going to _tell _someone."

"You don't think it's a big deal?" she exploded in a shrill voice that made him flinch. "Gray – Ann's going to be _heartbroken_. She still has feelings for him, you know! And he's going to go propose to some... some _tramp_?"

"Calm down, drama queen," he said. "Think about what you're saying. The blue feather _is _for Ann."

A silence that was almost painfully loud echoed through the room, before Jill exploded again. "What? But... but Ann's not ready! Is he insane? They haven't even been dating properly! What is he thinking?"

"Shh. Jill, he cares about her. A lot. He thinks... that by doing this, he'll figure out whether it's worth staying around. He wants to marry her, and either she feels the same – and they can skip the whole awkward dating phase and be together – or she doesn't feel the same, and he can go somewhere else to move on. And _don't _–" he pointed a warning finger at Jill, "Don't you say anything to him. He's nervous enough, and you ambushing him is exactly what could make him drop the idea all together."

"If I can make him forget the whole idea, that's not a bad thing –"

"_Jill Evans_. Don't you dare."

The blonde pouted, exhaling suddenly. "Gray, I think this is going to turn out really, really badly. I mean... marriage? When the two of them are barely in a relationship – heck, forget a relationship, they barely _speak_. I mean, if it was you and I –" she stopped talking abruptly and Gray stood up straight just as abruptly.

"What?" he asked quietly, after a long pause. "If it was you and I... what? It would be different, or... you wouldn't?"

Jill suddenly became very interested in the wallpaper, tracing along the patterns with her fingers for a few moments. She glanced up at Gray, who was still waiting for her answer with an unreadable expression on his face, then returned to her wall-tracing. "I don't know," she finally answered in a soft voice. "I don't know what I'd do. On the one hand... it's terrifying. Marriage is for older people; more experienced people – not me. But, on the other hand..." she glanced at her hands and smiled, blushing. "I mean... it's you. Which makes it a whole lot less scary, and a lot more..." she trailed off, her stomach clenching at Gray's impassive face. "Um... never mind."

He continued to stand perfectly still – but after a few minutes, he took a few large strides forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. Jill sighed in relief as he kissed her forehead, then pushed back to see his face, while both her hands were still on his chest. "Sorry if that freaked you out," she joked. Gray simply shook his head, tilting her chin up so he could kiss her lips.

"Do you guys – gah," Cliff exclaimed, closing his eyes briefly as he re-entered the room. Gray smirked, Jill stuck her tongue out at the traveler, and the couple continued kissing while Cliff blocked his eyes and wished that he'd thought out the consequences of Jill living with them just a _little_ more thoroughly before he'd agreed.

**xxx**

"Jack?" Veronica called nervously, peering through the window of the tiny farmhouse. By the looks of it, nobody was home – which made her a little anxious, as she'd intended on sweet-talking Jack as soon as possible. It was therefore, an immense relief to her when she heard his footsteps behind her.

"Hey Veronica," he said with very little emotion in his voice. At least he didn't look... murderously furious. That was something... right?

"Look," she said immediately, with no attention of beating around the bush, "I saw that Jill's living at the inn for awhile. I figured you guys had a fight – I just wanted to see that you were okay."

"The inn, huh?" He snorted. "Yeah, I'd expect that she'd impose on Gray like that. And he'll let her, completely willingly, of course." Only at that moment did he seem to truly acknowledge Veronica. "Hey... thanks for coming down, Sis. I appreciate it."

"You're my big brother," she replied with a dazzling smile. "It doesn't matter who it is – if they hurt you, I'm going to stick up for you."

He watched Veronica for a few moments, a wry smile on his face. After awhile, he shook his head. "Von... maybe I was too quick to judge you. I'm sorry about... how things have been between us lately." He paused, then rushed on. "I still think it was awful to take your sister's boyfriend. I'll never be okay with you doing that, especially since I believe that both you girls could do better than him –" Veronica cleared her throat, and he continued. "But you're both my sisters... and I shouldn't have taken sides over something that didn't affect me first-hand."

"It's okay," she told him quietly. "Jack... you can say what you want, but we both know that you and Jill have always been closest. Don't argue; I'm just saying what the truth is, and I've never minded that – as long as you love me, too. We're all siblings, but you guys had the best friend thing going on as well." Here was the tricky part – did Veronica use the argument to get on even better terms with Jack, or did she try and help them make up and possibly gain the appreciation of both? If the former, everything would be a lot easier – but it felt somehow immoral... which, actually, had never stopped her before. If the second... it _could _work, but on the other hand, if they grew close again, she could find herself on the outer.

Well, no decisions needed to be made right this second, so she smiled at Jack again. "You sure you're okay?"

"I've got my girls looking out for me," he shrugged. "You two keep me sane."

"Your girl_s_?" she asked, emphasising the plural and making her brother blush suddenly. She grinned, stepping forward and jabbing him in the ribs teasingly. "Who's the other one?"

"No-one," he mumbled. "I meant... meant..."

"Jack and Mary, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I–"

"These solemn words of wisdom coming from one of the most recent valedictorians," Jack said with an eye roll. "I knew that presentation was rigged."

"Quiet you." Her red curls bounced as she pushed them back over her shoulder, giving a little sigh and staring around the farm. "You know... I've never really looked around the place. I guess I couldn't really – Jill wouldn't want it."

"Hey, I didn't _kick_ her out. She went of her own free will, and she has no right to say what I can – or can't – do. So I say; want a tour?" His sister giggled and nodded appreciatively, following as Jack set off towards the barn at a quick pace.

While ties with one sister had just been repaired significantly, ties with the other were still stretched almost to breaking point. So as he showed Veronica around the farm – smiling at the excitement on her face when he showed her anything from crops to animals – the majority of his mind was still occupied by a blonde head of hair and the pair of horrified but somehow expressionless blue eyes that had gazed at him after his angry words the previous night.

Jill was, and always would be, his little sister. The cheerful young girl, the insecure teenager, and the possibly _less _secure adult – no matter how mad he was, there was still the overwhelming instinct to protect her; to be there when she was upset and scared.

The difficult part came now that she'd made it clear she didn't want him there.

**xxx**

**If you liked it, you may leave a review. If you don't leave one... well, I'll understand what you thought of it... D:**

**Kidding XD. But seriously, review. I have flying monkeys. O.o**


	42. Chapter 42

**First: ONE WEEK! WOOP!**

**Awh :( when I started this chapter, I lost it almost immediately... and after frantic searching for my document, which I always name 'Jill36' 'Jill37' according to the chapter number... I couldn't find Jill42. I later discovered this chapter under the saved name, 'cool potatoes'. I don't know, okay? I get the feeling a family member may have been snooping and had an attempt at being funny.**

**:P Aaaaand, I have to apologize for the last chapter and my Australian-ness. Hey, I spell it 'mom' and 'favorite' and 'color' for you guys, so be happy! But... here's a lesson in the Australian dictionary.**

**Notes – as in, Cliff putting the notes and coins in the bag... it means bills, guys. Paper money (although in Australia, it's technically plastic... whatever. You understand.)**

**Singlet – and I feel like an idiot for not realising that some might not know this. A singlet is just one of those tops with really thin spaghetti straps... I'm tempted to call it a 'tank top' even though I have no idea what a tank top is, so I could be completely wrong. AND, while I'm here, what are capris? So, uh... lesson over, and perhaps you learnt some Australian culture XD.**

**I have actually just become a major Griffin fangirl, and I don't know whether that's sad or not. You know the barkeeper in DS Cute? He's got the cutest heart events ever. He's all like, April (My farmgirl. Leave the month-y name alone. I was **_**tired**_**.) wouldn't be interested in me 'cause I'm an older man and she deserves better and SQUEE. He's just adorable, I'm sorry. Basically, I'm requesting that someone do me a Griffin oneshot pronto. Pretty please? PLEASE? You will officially steal the title of my favourite reviewer XD.**

**Disclaimer: I blame The Scarlet Sky if any or all of this chapter is noticeably flu-induced.**

**Ekoaleko – **Aw, gibberish, chatspeak AND smileys... I don't think I've ever had all three before! You sure know how to make a girl feel special :) :) Your reviews make me giggle XD I'm always happier after reading them. See, I never liked Cliff either... and now... because as you'll see, he has a bit kind of moment in the spotlight, I really got into his character and enjoyed writing him. It's weird O.o ... notes are explained above XD and Tom isn't finished, but I don't think he comes up in a maaaaajor way for a little while. Thanks so much for reviewing.

**Cryptic Love – **Holy moley, that was a massive review. Singlet ^^ explained, and 8.30 is way early huh? (Says the girl who stays up until about two every morning writing this. Haha) lol. Put her up is like... an expression, and it means kind of... give her a place to stay. That kind of thing. Your comment about Cliff's illegal habits had me giggling like a little girl. Veronica is still going to put herself first before anyone else... she hasn't learnt not to do that yet. And thank you for the comment about screenwriting and I know you're not a stalker :3

**DoubleKK – **Quick updates continue even more! YAY! Hehe, as I said to Erika, I'm really loving Cliff now that I'm writing him properly and sticking my sad little attempts at humour in there as well. You have to feel bad for the guy at least, y'know? Well, OBVIOUSLY I can never make a proposal go a hundred percent smoothly... except... in the case of Tim and Elli... hmm. But I like everyone to get their happy ending... after I make their lives hell XD. That's a good idea – Tom doesn't die, he just lives off scraps from the inn. And lives on the street. IN WINTER. AND DIES OF HYPOTHERMIA. But... that brings us back to the whole dying thing we were trying to avoid XD.

**Random Jelly Beans – **You're right, basketball practice isn't an acceptable excuse at all. You should – hee. I just pictured your coach's face when you told him or her 'I'm only late because I was leaving this long review for a fanfiction...' It would probably be much the same reaction as when I tell my Geography teacher tomorrow, 'No, I didn't do _this_ assignment either, but I was trying to finish off the latest chapter for my fanfiction...' Augh. My school is going to end up kicking me out for doing no homework XD. Thank you so so much for continuing to review (you may call them short, but they're actually pretty long :3)

**Katrina Tora – **If you really want to see the monkeys, I'll send them over to you anyway :) and poor Cliff... REALLY didn't think about the consequences of Gray and Jill sharing a room. Lmao. Veronica is one of the weirdest names... not in general, but with two siblings with names like Jack and Jill, it's a bit... dude, where did that come from? Haha. Thank youuu!

**Ultra Drama Queen – **Lol... when Gray called Jill a drama queen in the last chapter, I immediately thought of you :) Jack and Jill are uber-angry at each-other, hey? Cliff... this chapter will explain the whole proposal situation a lot more; don't worry that I'm going to leave THAT up in the air. Haha, I had no reason to put Tom in the last chapter... I think he had his moment when he attacked Mary –mutters angrily– but unfortunately, I'm not finished with him yet. I'm going to have to give him a little more plot development before I can kick him to the curb.

**Midnight Shine – **I care! I'm so glad that you reviewed now, even if you took a little break. Ahaha, the comments people are making about Cliff proposing actually make me giggle, but I don't want to give too much away. When you read this chapter you'll see why. Hey, I've got MYSELF somehow hooked onto JackxMary. I swear, I've written like... a dozen little scenes that I'll probably never use, but I think their arguing is the cutest thing in the world. –does not sound conceited– XD. No, you're on the right track about Veronica... she knows how to suck up if she believes it will get her what she wants.

**melii101 – **Ooh! A best friend, or a "best friend"? ;) you can tell me. But anyway, I hate you for having people like Jack in your life. I have one Gray, one Jill, a lot more than one Jack, and a best best best friend Karen... but none of them are anything like the Mineral Town characters –pout– Jack and Jill won't fight forever, but neither one is going to back down and apologize easily. Your AnnxCliff questions are all answered in this chapter, so I won't keep you any longer! Enjoy!

**xTrueEmotion – **Yeah, no Tom. He has a tiny part in this chapter – tiny but important – but the good news is, Veronica isn't in THIS chapter! Yay! Aha, my deadline for kicking Tom and Veronica out of Mineral Town is winter 17th, and I have so much to fit in before then, I'm debating somehow keeping them around for another week or so after that. Although my reviewers may kill me if I don't get rid of them quick smart XD. Thank you for the review.

**Bubblefox – **Aw, thank you so much! I want to write for movies and soap operas, so I'm really happy you said that :3 and yeah, Gray bought a feather around this time last year... threw it away though, and I'm pretty sure it must be long gone by now, sadly. I have plans for Kai AND Popuri – I'm not just going to let them fade away into oblivion – but whether or not they end up together is for me to know and you guys to find out XD. Thanks for the long review, and look how quick I updated!

**Jean Cooper – **Augh! I can't believe I forgot the flying monkeys came from you! –is embarrassed- thank you again for all your help and support – I can't say that enough, which is why I end up repeating myself in every review reply to you. Hehe.

**The Scarlet Sky – **Ahh, girl, I love your psycho Team Rocket–Anti Edward–Princess Debut reviews more than you'll ever know. And YOU know my writing style too well, because this proposal is definitely not going to go down easily. Ah, I don't... _I _believe in finding a good quality in every character, unless they're Tom. Or Mr Wickham, but we won't even go there because I'll strangle something. And, embarrassing, but now that I JUST discovered my DS Cute cartridge, I absolutely adore Murrey more than life itself. Oh God, he's adorable how happy he looks when you give him food and... nyah. Basically, I will never compare Tom to him in any way XD. And PD, I still haven't gotten around to trying for Luciano... –goes to find her DS once the chapter is uploaded-

**Kaiser Einrich – **Ahaha, I wouldn't give up on the hope that Gray will eventually break his face as well. If he does, can I have TWO million gold stars? I laughed my ass off at the idea of Tom starving to death in a cage made of tigers XD ah, the images. That's what I thought; Jill needed to be talked to seriously and Jack went a little bit past serious... I have to take Jack's side even though I love them both dearly :3 and in the last chapter, Cliff... a lack of communication is going to be a really big problem in a very different way, but I won't ruin that right now.

**xxx**

"I'm going to _kill _you, damn it!" Jill snarled angrily.

Strangely enough, the inoperative phone made no reaction to her threat, and Doug raised a contemplative eyebrow at her. "Something wrong, Jill?"

"_No_," she muttered sarcastically. "No, I'm _thrilled _that the phone isn't working. As a matter of fact, I –"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Doug chuckled. He walked around the counter and started examining the phone and the area around it, before sighing in exasperation and picking up a loose cord. "I hate when this happens. Sorry, Jill... I've gotta get this re-connected, and living where we do, it can take hours until we're back on the phone network."

She gave him an incredulous stare with both eyebrows raised, before she laughed hesitantly. "Are you joking?"

"Nope," Doug replied cheerfully, whistling to himself as he plugged the cord back in. "We don't have your flashy... cellular phones here... you'll just have to wait. Did you need anything important?"

"I guess not," Jill pouted. "I need to order a new warm top for winter, is all. I can hold out."

"Wow... I'm impressed," a teasing voice said from behind her. "You're _definitely_ not the girl I dated – what happened to your near-exploding wardrobe? It must be hell for you to wait so long just for some clothes."

Jill turned around, surveying Tom coldly. First, she couldn't help but blame him partially for her fight with Jack – she was certain her brother wouldn't have taken it so badly if it had been anyone else she'd had dinner with. And second, she was a little offended by the comment he'd just made. "I'm not _that _materialistic," she said plainly.

Tom grinned; no apology, no surprise on his face. "I'm sure. All girls want to believe that, I think." He laughed in a tone that was undoubtedly supposed to sound friendly, but came across as nothing short of fake. "It doesn't matter – we're all more materialistic than we'd care to show. Well, admittedly... some of the people here do seem content with their dull little lives. Some of them are disgracefully old-fashioned... it's like they're living in the dark ages, honestly." A look of contempt crossed his face. "Us city people know what it's all about though, huh?" He finished with a wink at the blonde's unmoving expression.

All of a sudden, Jill felt horribly sick. It was completely out of the blue, but she was finding that... she couldn't even look Tom in the eye without feeling sick to the pit of her stomach. Had he always been this person? This... chauvinist pig with an immense superiority complex? Was _this_ the man that Jack always saw in him; the excuse for a man that Gray saw?

Had she really been able to blind herself _that _much?

_Thirteen years, _was the only thought running relentlessly through her mind, _You wasted thirteen years as his girlfriend – and you still spent two years after that infatuated with him. _She gasped suddenly, self-disgust almost suffocating her. A veil had been lifted from around him, leaving Tom's worst traits clearly exposed where they had been concealed before. What had made everything click so suddenly, she had no idea – the point was that something definitely _had _clicked, and she wasn't about to let that man waste another minute of her life. Without a proper goodbye, she turned on her heel and raced up the stairs.

"Jill?" Tom called after her, looking nothing short of puzzled.

She didn't turn around, pressing one hand over her mouth to muffle the unexplainable sobs she was now choking out. Fumbling with the handle of Gray and Cliff's door and silently thanking the Goddess it wasn't locked, she stumbled into the empty room and sank down onto Kai's bed. It was nonsensical of her to be crying, but knowing that simply wasn't stopping the tears.

"Stop it Jill," she growled at herself. "Stop being an i-idi-" the burning pressure in her throat and chest from forcing tears back grew to be almost unbearable; eventually she broke down and let herself cry. It kind of seemed like that was all she'd been doing lately... but at least it was _something_.

Seconds later, the door swung open and she glanced up to see Gray's worried expression. "Goddess, what the hell happened?" he asked quickly, expecting the worst as he walked over to her side briskly. She didn't stand; choosing instead to grab his jacket and pull him down beside her. He frowned and tried to brush the tears away from her face, but she prevented him by grasping his hand and squeezing it with both of hers. "Jill," he continued, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she choked. "Nothing... Gray..." a wavering smile flashed across her face. "I think – I _think_, maybe, something's going right."

"..." He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "And... why are you crying hysterically?"

"Because," Jill whispered, touching the side of his face, "I've been such an idiot up until now, and... you've been there through it all..." she froze, shaking her head. "Gray, I've only just realised that Tom isn't a priority anymore."

Gray glanced at her incredulously for a moment, his jaw falling ever so slightly open as her words began to sink in. Jill watched nervously – was he mad? Hadn't he realised that she'd still occasionally thought about how things should have been with Tom up until today?

And then Gray threw his head back and laughed.

"Hey!" she said indignantly, smacking his arm. "I'm serious! I really mean it!"

"I know you do," he sighed, the expression on his face nothing short of ecstatic. He glanced down at her small hand in his, before lifting it up and kissing it. "I have been waiting," he began slowly with a smirk on his lips, tracing his fingertips down Jill's face and leaving a burning trail from her cheek to her jaw, "To hear you say those words... for _two years _now."

He wasn't – and never had been – a _gentle _kisser, and in the moment, Jill couldn't have been more thankful for that. All the frustration and anger she was feeling – at herself, at Jack, at _Tom_ and all the damn years she wasted on him – all of it was somehow released as she pressed her lips to Gray's roughly, tightening her fingers in his hair as he kissed her back with equal force. "I love you," she breathed, never in her life meaning the words more than she did at that moment.

"I love you," he mumbled in reply between kisses. "More than you can imagine."

"I _can_ imagine," she said, pushing away from him with her hands on his chest. "I love you more."

Gray raised one eyebrow in challenge, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side. "You know, this could start a pretty fierce argument."

"Try me," Jill retorted. "I've had my fair share of them this week. I'm becoming an expert."

"I don't want to start an argument with you before my birthday," he chuckled, before his mouth twisted into a bitter grimace. "Not this year."

It took awhile before it clicked, but Jill eventually brought one hand to her mouth. "Oh, Gray. You... told me that you loved me... a year ago in a few days. The day before your birthday, wasn't it? If your birthday's the sixth... and today's the third... so, this time last year... I didn't realise I had feelings for you." She glanced down at her hands, mouthing the word, 'wow'. "It feels like I've loved you forever... my Goddess, it's only been a season and a bit! I had no idea!"

"I had an idea," he said shortly, lying down and closing his eyes briefly. "I spent long enough wanting you... and now that I have you, forever doesn't seem like long enough." Jill blushed at the corny, but undeniably sweet line, and Gray smirked. "I win. Cheesy lines – I love you more." He received a disapproving scowl from the blonde, who decided to lie down beside him and rest her head on his chest.

"I can hear your heartbeat," she murmured, smirking to herself as it immediately sped up. Her boyfriend growled at her irritably, bringing one hand up to play with Jill's blonde locks as her eyes closed.

And then, of course, Cliff walked in.

"Heck," he said in a timid voice, shaking his head, "You guys really need to get a signpost or something."

That one comment set Jill off in a fit of such frenzied giggles, she doubled over and promptly fell off the bed – which set her off into yet another bout of hysterics. Amused, Gray and Cliff watched her for a few moments, before the former smacked his hand to his forehead and jumped up.

"Augh! I just came up to get spare materials, and _it _–" ever the loving boyfriend, he gestured to Jill rolling on the floor, "– distracted me."

"I'll bet she did," Cliff offered with a tiny smile. Jill collapsed into another fit; Gray shot Cliff a quick glare, grabbed a bag from the shelf at the side of the room and raced out the door, already anticipating the yelling his grandfather would be doing. Jill was still bursting into giggles quietly, so Cliff grabbed a book and sat on his bed, flipping it open.

Eventually, the blonde found the composure to sit up, brushing her hair back from her face and the tears from her eyes. "Ah – whatcha reading?"

"A book," Cliff offered. He paused for a few seconds, his cheeks turning a deep crimson. "A-Ann recommended it to me," he admitted with an uncontrollable smile on his lips. The mention of the waitress made Jill sit up a little straighter; she bit her lip as her inner thoughts had a raging battle.

_You've got to talk him out of it._

It's not your place!

_He's only going to get rejected, and that won't do anyone any good._

Jill Evans, you promised Gray you wouldn't say a word.

_But he's making a mistake!_

And it's his mistake to make!

_It's going to hurt Ann, too, though. What if she feels pressured to go along with it?_

What if she actually wants to marry him?

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," she said out loud. Cliff glanced up at her, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion.

"I'm... sorry?"

"Cliff, don't propose to Ann," she said quickly, before throwing both hands over her mouth and crinkling her eyes shut. "Sorry... that wasn't my place..."

"H-how did you... when did... who – why not?" he finally stuttered out, his face an almost inhuman shade of red. Jill shot him a look of despair, her head warning her not to say another word. But on the other hand, her heart seemed almost relieved that she had got it off her chest. She climbed back onto Kai's bed, swinging her legs up and folding her hands in contemplation before letting out a slow sigh.

"Cliff... I heard you're thinking of proposing to Ann, and as her best friend... I think it's a really terrible idea." The traveller's face whitened, but he nodded slowly, imploring her to continue. "She's not ready for marriage... how do you honestly think she'll feel when you just, out of the blue, get down on one knee? I mean to tell you the truth, you two don't really talk that much. You can't... you can't. Not now. Not yet. You can't expect her to accept something so sudden."

A horrible silence settled over the pair, and Jill's stomach twisted slightly at the... _broken _look on Cliff's face. There was no other way to describe the distraught expression. She opened her mouth, trying to recall if her words had come out too harsh, but Cliff held up one hand and stood, blinking impatiently to clear the sudden moisture from his eyes.

"Th-thank you for being so honest with me," he whispered, before turning and ducking out the door.

For the second time that afternoon, Jill felt sick enough to throw up – and for the second time, it was down to self-disgust more than anything else. She'd meant to be _kind_, meant to let him down easily – but by the looks of it, she'd pretty much pushed him out of a plane with no parachute, to hit the ground with a painful crash. The worst thing was the obvious way he was holding back tears as he'd left the room – Cliff wasn't as tough as Gray, or as happy-go-lucky as Kai, or as down to earth as Rick... but he was actually the last person in Mineral Town she would expect to see crying. He was a person that she knew had dealt with a lot of tragedy in his young life, even though she didn't know _what_ exactly... and Jill's words must have hurt him _badly _to evoke that kind of response.

Standing up quickly and grabbing a jacket to pull around herself, Jill headed for the door. Because, no matter how much or how little they talked, _no-one _– save Veronica, perhaps – no-one deserved to be on their own when they were that upset, and on top of that, it was Jill's fault in the first place. So she pushed her way urgently out the room door, jogging down the stairs and exiting the inn – intent on finding Cliff, and then learning to _think_ before she let harmful words leave her mouth.

**xxx**

"Jill."

"Not now, I –" she started to protest to whoever it was before the voice registered, but when it did, she quickly turned on her heel. "What do you want?"

His arms crossed over his chest, Jack approached her with a stony expression on his face. "You're living here, are you? With Gray?"

"I don't see that it's your problem."

"It is my problem," he snapped impatiently. "It's my problem when my sister is imposing on other people. It's my problem when they're gossiping that I kicked her out of home. It's _my _problem when the house she left actually belongs to her."

"Wow," she said sarcastically, "What a sincere apology."

"I'm not going to apologize to you," Jack scoffed immediately. "Believe me, that's the _last _thing I'm planning on doing." His sister raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'well then' and hurriedly resumed walking away. Jack called out after her again and she swung around impatiently.

"_What_?"

"Come home."

A long pause followed, Jill's face completely shocked, before she eventually responded. "You have got to be joking."

"I'm not joking," he insisted, walking closer to her. "You know, you're an idiot."

"And you're a jerk."

"But –" he warned, "I'd rather have you under my roof than leave you under anyone else's, especially Gray. I'm friends with him, you know, and he's going to feel like he can't talk to me because he's busy being loyal to you. Do you have any idea of the strain that kind of thing can put on a relationship?"

"Wise words, Mister two-week maximum," Jill mocked. "Don't you come up to me pretending to be a relationship expert when you can't _be _in a relationship for any longer than –"

"Oh no, I'm pretty sure you've got the whole 'relationship expert' thing figured out, haven't you?" he retorted immediately. "You're as bad as I am, if not worse – just in a different way. But even _you_ can't tell me that you don't understand the way this could potentially come crashing down. Who would you go to then, huh? If you couldn't live with Gray, and you're refusing to live in your own home, where would you go?"

"Rick and Karen," she said with her chin held high. As soon as she said it she regretted it; Jack's face turned even colder as he came closer.

"You would do that to them?" he asked, "Really? When they're... _struggling _this much to make their relationship work, you'd bring in all the problems that Karen doesn't even know she has? Jill –" his voice changed now; there was a pleading edge to it. "That poor guy still isn't coping with seeing you occasionally in the street and knowing he can't have you. Can you imagine what it would do to him if he was waking up every morning, knowing you were in his _house_? You'll sit down to eat dinner with him, and he'll be thinking about how it would have been if _you _were his wife, not Karen."

"I don't need your damn lecture," she mumbled, but the way she was avoiding eye-contact let Jack know that he'd broken her down. He crossed his arms over his chest again, exhaling slowly before laying out his carefully chosen words.

"If you move back, I won't expect you to speak to me," he admitted. "And hell, I'm not ready _or _willing to speak to you either. But you should be at home – not living here. People are _talking_, Jill. People know that you're living alone with two unrelated men – one of them your boyfriend. What kind of message is that giving out about you, and if you don't care about that, what kind of message is it giving about Gray – ? Think about it."

Silence reigned for a few moments, before Jill bit her lip and glanced to the side. "Fine," she muttered in a resentful voice. "I'll come home tomorrow. Look, I have to go –"

"Yeah," he interrupted, waving one hand. "Go. I'm expecting that you'll be there tomorrow morning." She was tempted to argue that he wasn't to order her around, but thought immediately of Cliff and left Jack behind as she resumed her search for him.

**xxx**

It took almost six hours of searching for Jill to realise in despair that Cliff might have simply gone back to the inn after an hour or so... and that, had she waited there, she wouldn't have wasted all this time searching in the cold.

With an impatient sigh she turned around and headed towards the inn, noticing with some apprehension how _quiet _it was when she pushed the doors open. None of the evening regulars were there – of course, it was only seven so they could be arriving yet. But... Ann wasn't there; Doug wasn't there, and with her overactive imagination dreaming up a hundred thousand explanations for the empty room, she flew upstairs and burst into Gray and Cliff's room.

Cliff wasn't there, but Gray was – and Ann was, sobbing hysterically as Gray awkwardly hugged her. "Ann, it's okay," he was saying quietly, shooting Jill a meaningful glance telling her to get the distraught girl off him.

"Ann?" Jill said, a waver in her voice. There was no problem that Gray was comforting her – the pair were too much like brother and sister to ever trigger Jill's jealousy, but worse, she was completely anxious about what had _Ann _of all people, so upset. The redhead turned around instantly, her eyes the most brilliant shade of blue, courtesy of the tears.

"Jill," she choked, quickly loosening her hold on a thankful-looking Gray and throwing her arms around the blonde instead. "Jill, he... he's gone. He's gone, Ji –" she trailed off mid-word, her voice faltering through the uncontrollable sobs racking her small body. "Cliff, he –"

"Wait, what?" Jill asked, her heart tightening and head spinning all at once. "Ann – Ann, what do you mean he's _gone_? He's not... not..."

"Not dead," Gray offered, seeing that the girl in Jill's arms was incapable of speaking, "He's left Mineral Town." Was it just her, or was his attitude towards her particularly cold as he explained it? "He must have caught a ferry in the last few hours... and hell, it was sudden. I came back about three hours after going back to work to find you missing and a letter on my bed; I didn't know what to think. But... it was from Cliff, saying... thanks for the years, basically." He clenched his fists and glared at the floor – Jill realised with a pang that while Ann was the most noticeably distressed, Gray had to be hurting. He'd lost a friend too – they all had.

"D-did he say why," she asked nervously, half-afraid that Ann was going to recall the reason and pounce on her in an angry rage at any second. Almost to Jill's relief, Ann shook her head.

"He – he," she hiccupped, struggling to find the words, "Jill, I... he was g-going to..." With an anguished wail she buried her head in one hand, pulling a letter out of her overall pocket and thrusting it at Jill. "He l-left me one, too... read it."

Her fingers trembling as she struggled with trying to pull the letter out quickly and not destroy the envelope, Jill eventually succeeded and pulled the single sheet out. It had been written in a small, somewhat shaky print – there was no doubt in the blonde's mind that it wasn't Cliff's normal writing; simply courtesy of nerves and emotion. The letter was relatively short... but it was to the point, and Jill found herself covering her mouth and blinking tears from her eyes as she reached the end.

_Ann,_

_I know I'm a coward, and that's why I'm doing what all cowards do. I'm leaving – running away, if you like. By the time you read this, I guess I won't see you again. I hate realizing that, so I won't think about it._

_You deserve an explanation, but I could write a novel and it wouldn't be enough to tell you what's going through my head. I'll keep it simple – Ann, I know that you don't feel the same way about me that I feel about you – how could I blame you for that? I can't expect anything more than friendship when that's all I've been brave enough to ask for._

_But friendship is never going to be enough. You're all I can think about – I wanted to marry you. I was going to ask you, too. And soon – maybe today or tomorrow – isn't that ridiculous? Something made me realize what a dumb idea it was, though. I'm a penniless traveller, and if you did marry me, I'd just... be tying you to a life of poverty. That's not fair – and I'd never forgive myself. I'd hate myself even more than I already do._

_I love you. And I don't know why saying that – saying ALL of this – is so much easier on paper – but I guess it's because, if you reject me, at least I'll never know._

_I'm going to miss you like you wouldn't believe._

_- Love, Cliff._

"Ann," Jill choked once she was sure she could trust her voice, "I mean... I know it's horrible to think about, but, maybe, he's right. If... if he had asked you, and you'd turned him down, it would have hurt a lot. I mean... it seems like he really loves you... this could be for the best."

"That would only be true," the redhead replied shakily, "If I _had _t-turned him down. But hell, I – I would..." Ann choked on her tears, running both hands through her loose hair and tightening them into fists as she rested her head on her knees, rocking back and forth. "Goddamn, I would have said _yes_. I w-would have... been _happy _to marry him, Jill! W-what made him change his mind? _Why_ didn't he ask me?"

All at once, the universe came crashing down around Jill as she watched the agony her best friend was struggling through. Not for a second had she actually considered that Ann... might have felt the same way about Cliff. And as her face went deathly white and she robotically patted Ann on the back, she just _knew _that beyond everything else; looking past every misplaced word she'd spoken or thoughtless action she'd performed – _this _was the worst thing she had ever done.

She'd broken her best friend's heart.

**xxx**

"Don't be ridiculous," Gray said quietly. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms folded behind his head. "What use will going to the beach do? The ferry's long gone."

"I know," Jill said in an equally soft voice. "I just want to think."

"It's eleven at night in the middle of winter," he scowled. "You won't _think_, you'll freeze. Can't you just think here?"

"No," she replied shortly, heading over and placing one hand on the door handle. "I need the sea air. I won't be too long." Not giving him time to protest again, she ducked out and walked briskly until she was well and truly outside and on her way to the ocean.

The temperature was quite literally freezing, but it was the last thing on Jill's mind. What had seemed like a good idea just earlier that day had become the worst idea she'd ever had – she couldn't begin to fathom how she'd believed that she had the _right _to open her mouth. Words that Gray had said to her only the day before came flying back with an almost painful vengeance now –

'_He's nervous enough, and you ambushing him is exactly what could make him drop the idea all together._'

That had come back to slap her in the face, hadn't it? It seemed like... everyone else understood the world; everyone else knew what they should do and _nobody _else made mistakes on the same level that Jill did. Nobody.

When she hit the sand on the beach, she started running. Running towards the dock; running away from everything she'd done. But soon enough, the area on the dock that she could run on ended and her mistakes caught up, as they always seemed to.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to the ocean. "Cliff... this is my fault, and I need you to come back as soon as you can. _Ann_ needs you back." Jill immediately felt foolish – after all, to put it plainly, her words were nothing more than empty, and no-one was hearing them but herself. She slowly walked back up the dock, then across to the place where the water met the land.

She sat cross-legged on the sand, her chin resting on her hand as unseeing eyes gazed across the sea. She'd always acknowledged it as beautiful – but that was only because it had never hurt her. Ann... Ann would probably never be able to look at the ocean without remembering what she'd lost to it.

He wasn't coming back, Jill reluctantly admitted to herself. Cliff wouldn't return to be faced with what _he _was sure to imagine as humiliation – he wouldn't ever know that Ann felt the same way about him. How could he? The waitress had no way of contacting him; no way of knowing where he was. She couldn't call, couldn't write... Ann would be left here, forever wondering what had changed his mind... and Jill would be left here, too afraid to tell her.

"Jill..." the blonde didn't move as Gray walked up and sat down next to her, cupping her cheek and turning her face towards him. "What are you doing?"

"It was my fault," she admitted suddenly. "_My _fault, Gray. I talked to him; even after you _told _me this would happen, I didn't listen. And it came out all wrong... I wanted to warn him, but he took it real bad, and... and... Goddess!" she clenched her hands into fists and bit one hand in an attempt to channel her guilt.

"I guessed as much," he said slowly, sounding more disappointed in her than she'd ever hoped to hear him. A few moments passed as he sat by the blonde, not touching her, not making any contact. "Jill, stop biting yourself," he eventually sighed. Another moment later and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're not crying... but you certainly seem upset enough to be."

"I have no right to cry," she mumbled in a thick voice. "I'm not the one broken hearted. I'm not the girl who's going to wait, or the boy who's going to spend his time wishing she felt differently – and he doesn't know that she _does _feel differently, and it's because of _me_. How could I let myself cry over that? It's my fault – I'm the bad guy. I caused them this unhappiness."

Gray exhaled slowly, his fingers tracing a pattern in the sand in front of him. "You did what you thought was right."

"And it was _so _damn _wrong_. I –" she buried her face in her hands. "I'm just going to take a vow of silence. That's probably best for everyone."

"But a lot less entertaining," the blacksmith pointed out. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Have _you_ ever made one this big?"

"Everyone has," he shrugged. "But... eventually, things sort themselves out, and as corny as it sounds... you can usually look back and laugh about it."

"I'll never, never, never laugh about this," she said adamantly. Gray shrugged, pushing himself to his feet and offering Jill both of his hands to help her get to hers.

"Come on," he said, not bothering to let go of her hand once she had her own balance back. "The inn's doors get locked at midnight. We'd better hurry."

"Wait," she said quietly, squeezing his hand as he stepped off ahead of her. He turned slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Do you still love me?"

He looked fairly taken aback by her question, and pulled her closer to his side as he began walking again. "I think you realise what a stupid question that is."

**xxx**

Mary glanced up from her book impatiently yet _again_, sighing at the man hovering in the doorway. He'd waltzed in over an hour ago and had been standing in that same spot, alternating between watching _her _and watching the clock. "Jack, I'm not leaving the library early. You'll just have to sit down and be patient for fifteen more minutes."

"Did you hear about Cliff?" Jack asked, finally deigning to follow her advice and take a seat – he grabbed a chair from the wall and carried it right over to the opposite side of her desk, then sat down triumphantly. She rolled her eyes at him, forcing back an amused smile.

"Jack, with my mother, do you really think I haven't heard? Granted, I couldn't tell you how much of what I've heard is actually true, though. Apparently... Ann's in a terrible state."

"Would I sound like a terrible friend if I said I haven't actually spoken to her since I heard?" he winced, taking the pen from in front of her and clicking the button at the top of it. "Jill came home this morning..." the librarian raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Did she?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded. "We're still... not... it's just weird. But I don't want to talk about that – what I was getting at was that she kind of... hesitantly told me that Cliff's left Mineral Town... and when I asked her how Ann was, she went even more quiet than she had been with me, so I assume the answer wasn't going to be good. Which is _exactly _why you should close up the library and come to the inn with me _now_."

"Just go by yourself," Mary shrugged, reaching over and grabbing the pen back out of his hand to stop the incessant clicking. "I'm certainly not forcing you to be here."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Where's the fun if you're not with me?"

"And trying to charm me into it won't work," she continued airily, more than used to his tactics by now.

"Spoilsport," he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping down in his chair. Mary smiled at Jack sweetly, then returned to reading her book and ignoring him.

So, as you would, Jack took the opportunity to stare at her. He was noticing new things every day; things that he never thought he would bother to pay attention to in any girl – like when she was reading, for example. He could almost tell what she was reading about just by watching her face, now. When she bit her lip, she was generally re-reading something that she hadn't understood. A half-smile and raised eyebrow meant she was amused by typical cheesy romance, while a raised eyebrow without the smile meant something had taken her by surprise. It probably should have felt slightly embarrassing that he understood tiny things like that so well... but basically, it felt right – like that was the way it should be.

"Stop staring," she instructed without even glancing up from her page. "I can't read when you're doing that."

"Stop reading," he replied instantly, smirking, "I can't stare when you're doing that."

"But you _are _staring."

"And you _are _reading."

Mary snapped the book shut and glared at him, but his gaze had shifted to something that was more interesting to him for the moment. "Three... two... one... four o'clock!" He leapt out of his chair and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and out of the library after him.

"Jack! Let me go back and lock the door, at least!"

"If I let you go, I know you won't end up coming back. Give me the key and I'll do it." She begrudgingly placed it in Jack's hand, making him wink at her. "I'll be back in a second, darling," he called over his shoulder as he walked away. Mary watched after him with her arms folded across her chest, wanting to glare but physically unable to do anything but smile.

Jack... he wasn't the 'type' of man that she'd expected herself to fall for. Now, Gray... that made sense. They had both been quiet... relatively shy, at least around each other – but for Mary, feeling shy around _Jack_ was a very rare occasion. How could she? When she was with him, there was just... always something to talk about. Even if it was immature bickering most of the time.

"Come on," Jack's voice cut into her thoughts. "We can go now... and I don't think I'll give you back this key until I'm convinced you've spent long enough with me." He reached down and linked his fingers through hers as they walked; she smiled vaguely before frowning and pulling her hand away. "Jack; Sasha, Manna and my mom are all coming back from Rose Square about now! Do you _really_ want to be questioned about why you're holding my hand?"

"Do I look like I care?" he sulked, looking discouraged.

"Do I look like I do?" she shot back immediately.

Jack sighed, shrugging slightly. "Yes..."

"Yes. It's all very well for you... but you don't live with one of them." She stopped once they reached the front of the inn, shooting a sidewards glance at Jack. He mock-glared, then stuck his tongue out and opened the door for her.

"Over there," he said shortly, pointing to a table where Ann was sitting alone, her chin in her hands as she scrutinized the vase of flowers sitting in the middle. Jack sat on one side of her, Mary on the other side, and all at once Jack made his transformation from playful to serious. "Ann... I heard. Are you okay?"

Ann blinked up slowly, not reacting much apart from that. "I'm fine," she said in a hollow voice – it didn't look like she'd had any sleep the previous night. Her red hair was falling out of its usual braid, hanging limply in front of her eyes.

Jack frowned and pushed back Ann's scraggly locks, not noticing the way Mary flinched when he did it. "You don't look fine... you're not fine. Goddess, did you really like him that much?"

"Yeah," she said hoarsely. "And he liked me too, so... I still can't understand why he left."

"He liked you too?" Jack repeated. Wordlessly, the redhead reached into her pocket and handed him a crumpled letter; read a hundred times and dotted with tear stains that hadn't been there when she'd shown it to Jill the previous evening. Jack skimmed it, raised his eyebrows and handed it to Mary, who read it with a similar reaction.

"It's... well-written," she offered, not knowing what else she could say. Jack nodded in agreement and Ann gave a genuine smile.

"That's a comfort, isn't it?" she laughed, before her face became somber again. "I can't understand it. Why would he... just give up without a reason? Why wouldn't he at least mention _anything_ to me? I – ugh." She let her head fall onto her arms and sat in that position silently, while Jack stared blankly ahead.

As soon as Ann made that comment, he'd made the connection. The fact that Cliff had left, without a word to Ann... the fact that Jill had been staying with Cliff... Jill's views on what she dubbed 'spontaneous' marriages after Veronica and Tom had married so suddenly... and how _unusually _quiet and miserable his sister had been that morning. He knew her better than he knew himself; he was willing to bet his life that she'd played some part in the confusion – but right now, seeing Ann as distraught as she was, there wasn't any point in raising more speculation.

**xxx**

Jill had found her own letter that morning.

She was at the inn packing up her things to go back to the farm, and when she realised that she had misplaced a necklace that Gray gave her for her birthday, she practically tore the area apart to find it. And under the pillow on her bed was a small white envelope – crumpled, from being slept on, but undoubtedly recent. When she saw her name printed on the front in the same small, nervous script, her heart sank at the realisation that she had to read it.

It was much shorter, even than Ann's had been... only a few sentences long. But just the same as Ann's, the words were carefully chosen and most of all, effective.

_Jill,_

_I don't know if you feel somehow guilty about this, but please don't. I owe you more than I can give right now – you were right, and most importantly, you were honest with me. I'm more than ready to marry her... but I guess she isn't ready to marry me. All I can ask is that you look after her while I can't._

_Thank you for opening my eyes. You're a great friend._

_- Cliff._

It wasn't the emotion behind his words that hit Jill so hard, and it wasn't the agony he was obviously feeling over Ann. The last line was the hardest to take.

'_Thank you for opening my eyes. You're a great friend._'

Because if he knew how Ann really felt; knew what Jill had unconsciously done... a 'great friend' was the last thing in the world he would be describing her as.

**Geez, man. I'm drowning in angst here. I usually rely on Ann for my comic relief, and while she's depressed, she's not so good at that DX**

**I updated super quick for you guys, and I can do it again, so I want a gazillion reviews when I wake up tomorrow morning! :3**


	43. Chapter 43

**Not my fastest update as of recently, but good news – I'm pretty sure the next one will be really quick. I haven't actually started it but I'm super pumped to write it :3 it's something a little different.**

**And, I've gone and sprained my ankle. Which means no dancing classes; nothing to do but sit on the couch with my laptop. Hmph.**

**Hope all you stupid holiday people had a fun Thanksgiving while I was slaving away – well, on Summer holidays. But if I were at a public school, and wasn't on holidays yet, just know I would be most seriously displeased with you all for getting a break. XD.**

**Now, my reviewers – special mention to Quartet, who not only nabbed the 800****th**** review, but also got me there by reviewing every single chapter of this massive thing. Thank you!**

**Jean Cooper **– :) I know you'll be happier with things soon enough. I'll get to work with dismembering Tom – or have Gray or someone do it. Or MARY. She can give him a whole bunch of papercuts from her books, and then pour lemon juice on top of him. Hehe. Thanks for your help.

**Kaiser Einrich** – I look forward to your reviews so much. They're always so... philosophical and in-depth, and almost always point out things in the story that even I hadn't seen xD. Jill's the girl with only the best intentions – intentions that get scrambled and destroyed on the way from her brain to her mouth. She is, like you said, a twit. Ann and Cliff, Ann and Cliff... he got scared and bailed, and I think she's not as upset about what she actually lost, but upset about the idea of what could have been. And I'm glad you approve of and like Jack and Mary, because so do I. xD.

**Ultra Drama Queen **– Glad you found the part in the chapter :3 and yeah, Jill had a bit of a weird time last chapter. She went from strangely sensible, figuring Tom out, to ridiculously dumb... accidentally making her friend's potential husband leave. Sigh. Hee! I hope you didn't cry, even if you came close – I don't want to make you that sad! Thank you for the review.

**ICan'tDecideWhatMyPenNameIs** – Aw, don't worry about not reviewing. I'm just su-u-u-u-uper happy that you have now :) and I think we're all happy that Jill's finally, FINALLY over Tom :P hope this chapter is satisfactory!

**xPaparazzixChickx** – Eeeeek. Your long long long long long long long long long reviews always make me so smiley afterwards. Is this really your favourite story? Ahaha, the pressure to update quickly now that I've heard that. I think this chapter is a lot less angsty, just because I can't cope with writing two massively angsty chapters in a row. It hurts my brain. It makes me giggle to no end that you still adamantly love Tom. Hahaha, I think Gray's more than used to Jill's idiot behaviour by now. It'd take something a lot bigger than that to make him stop loving her :3 I, uh, already sent your hundred bucks by cash -shifty eyes-. Stupid aeroplanes, always... losing... stuff. And my Mom was actually discovered as the culprit in the cool potatoes mystery, the LAST person I expected. Enjoy!

**The Scarlet Sky** – I LOVE YOU FOR MY GRIFFINxJILL ONESHOT. TIMES A MILLION BILLION TRILLION. -sends you buckets of love- I swear you're now my official favourite person in the history of favourite people. Up there with Robbie Williams. Yeah. Damn, your theory about Cliff and Kai made me so tempted to change up the whole story, you wouldn't believe it. I had to repeat to myself, 'stick with the plan. Stick with the plan. Stick with the plan.' And after all that, I was still tempted, but I eventually beat it :P you should be my official plot writer, though. And did you end up meeting your word count on NaNo?

**xTrueEmotion** – Ahh, yeah... I didn't give much opportunity for you guys to suspect that Cliff would leave. I'd kind of been very subtly building on it, and then... BOO! He's gone! XD I'm glad that you approve of the Jary and... somewhat approve of Jill and completely approve of Gray and may or may not approve of them together. Hehe. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Karen and Rick... or about Tim and Elli, for that matter. It's all going into more detail soon enough.

**DoubleKK** – AH! Hee, I tricked you all :3 you thought it was lovey-dovey-cutesy-Cliff keeps walking in on Gray and Jill, then bam! The angst monster leaps out and eats you! I laughed at your not-so-subtle hinting about certain non-awesome characters leaving, and, uh... I won't discuss that just yet. I like your ideas for Tom's fate ;) and, in reference to your PM, yes I know Meg Cabot and love her, and I strongly believe you're insane for reading this instead of her books. XD. And out of the blue, I'm giggling now because I remembered a really funny bit in the Princess Diaries movie. I am just that cool.

**Nuuuuuu!** - lmao, sorry sorry sorry sorry! Don't worry, it won't be too long.

**pisceanchic101 **– Yeah, Jill's... not the sharpest tool in the shed. Especially when it comes to her, and other people's love lives. I swear we need to duct-tape her mouth closed. Haha! I'd say Mary's got Jack just about whipped by now :P thank you so much for reviewing, and I really hope you like this chapter too!

**Katrina Tora **– I can't believe your email wouldn't download the flying monkeys! But it's good that you drew your own instead XD. It would have made things a lot easier if Cliff had just asked Ann, instead of listening to stupid Jill... but then again, that would mean the story would be a lot less interesting. Hehe. So we'll put up with the angst and the attempts at humour in the meantime, and I hope you keep enjoying it!

**Cryptic Love **– Haha, the new review button thing threw me completely the first time I went to review a story. Fanfiction is just out to confuse me, honestly. XD I love your review-while-reading reactions; it's really nice and super funny to hear what you're thinking while it's fresh in your mind. I like Rick too, he's a nice boy. Unfortunately, I love Gray that much more :3 so, I hope you keep reading for me and keep letting me know what you think of it!

**DemonDude12** – LOL, the last chapter was angst-central, I know. Don't worry, this one's more... uplifting, I guess is the word. I didn't leave that whole plot point hanging for TOO long, as you're about to discover. Thank you – and I've just realised that you've been one of my reviewers who's stuck around for the longest, so a super big thanks for that as well. :D

**Random Jelly Beans** – Oh! I'm not that mean, I wouldn't leave it for twenty chapters! ... well, actually, that sounds exactly like something I would do XD but I'll be a good girl and not leave it for quite that long. Gawd, Ann and Cliff's wedding would be the funniest thing ever. I WANT A REPLICA OF GRAY'S HAT. And you know what, I've just decided I'm going to make one, so THERE. :P heh, Elli and Tim are engaged. I actually like Tim, but there's a whole lot of other Graire fans who don't seem to XD. Ankle braces? Really? My dancing teacher's probably going to force me to dance in a wheelchair or something, I damage my ankles so much. Now go write that story with the awesome awesome summary that I contacted you about! XD

**AsianFlipGurl** – Aw, don't worry about missing the occasional chapter. I've been known to review the first chapter of a story, then forget about it until the last chapter, so... I can't be hypocritical xD. Hope you did well on your Social Studies project – man, twenty pages is a LOT. I'm surprised your brain didn't explode – mine would have. LOL – I know exactly what you mean about Jill's character, don't worry. No offence taken at all; that's how I'm hoping people see her. Thank you for such a long review! Hope you like this chapter too.

**Babybear** – Hey! I missed you! And sorry about the goddamn – it's just an expression that probably shouldn't be used so much, but is. I don't mean any offence by it :) you're too nice to me in your reviews, I'm not THAT good! Yeah, I think... Jill kind of took Tom's physical appearance and got it all mixed up, stopping her from seeing his true colours until her sudden revelation. It's so nice of you to say I can portray character emotion, because that's something I'm always a little nervous about. I hope you'll be reading to the end too – and thanks for the link; I get what tank tops and capris are now XD.

**Sunny Morning** – Girl, you haven't posted your story yet! :P if I update, you have to update. That's my condition. XD I'm kidding, but I'm looking forward to seeing it once you post it. You had the same idea as Scarlet and I have the same answer; I wish I had thought about bringing Cliff and Kai back together earlier, but I already made plans. And now I'm all pouting because how cool would that plot twist have been? I'm grumpy with fanfiction for cutting off your review, but thanks for being bothered to write one even after your first got deleted :P thanks for reviewing, and enjoy!

**melii101** – Haha, yeah, I don't think the AnnxCliff questions were answered how you expected them to be, even if they were still answered. Don't worry about Ann, I love her and I'll make sure she ends up happy. Gray really, really loves Jill, no matter how much she screws up... I want a boyfriend like that XD. But hey, don't we all? Jack and Jill... are still really mad at each other. That may take awhile yet to go completely back to normal.

**BeautifulAuthor** – Aw, thankyou. No, it's not rushed with over 40 chapters... but that's only because I'm very very good at rambling on. XD and I can't bear to stop writing this. Thanks for the review!

**Starwings1** – Thank you so much! I hope I didn't really make you cry :P I'll feel bad if I did. Thanks again; hopefully you keep reading this and keep enjoying it until the end – which isn't as far away as I'd like to think -sob- :)

**Midnight Shine** – I know, right? FINALLY being the operative word there – it took her long enough, but she's FINALLY over him. Finally, finally, finally. No, it doesn't look like we're going to have any Cliff-walking-in-on-Gray-and-Jill's-cute-moments for a little while. But thank you for the lovely compliments, and as always, the lovely review – hopefully this chapter is to your liking :3

**Quartet** – Wow. Wow. You had me feeling really sad and depressed with your first reviews, but as you went on it actually got really encouraging to see how much you think I've improved, so... thank you. And the second Wow, WOW. I can't believe you could be bothered reviewing every chapter :P you deserve a medal or something for that. Or, a chapter at the very least. So here's the chapter, because I don't have a medal. Thanks again!

**alberne Maedchen **– Thanks for telling me what capris and tank tops are XD I thought that might have been what capris were, and now I'm sure which is great. Hehe, your compliments are way too nice, but I'm flattered and I really appreciate it.

**Blue Cupcakes** – Much much much better super late than never. Thanks for the idea for the next few chapters – I've credited you at the end, so people don't realize what's going to happen before they actually read it, if you understand that at all... I'll make sure to send you the next chapters to get the okay before I post them. Now, read this and then go go go update Just A Memory! Even if I don't want to see it finish... D:

**You guys are the billion spoons of sugar I have to put in before I can drink tea. (Yes, it's a big compliment. A really, really, really... really really weird big compliment.)**

**xxx**

Jack frowned at the redhaired waitress in concern as she languidly twirled the straw in her drink. She didn't seem to be in the same world as him today – truthfully, she hadn't seemed to be in the same world as _anyone_ for the two days since Cliff had up and left her, and it was worrying him. No-one had realized that she was harboring such strong feelings – truth be told, Ann herself probably hadn't realized how much she wanted him until she'd lost him. And it was worrying Jack more than you would believe.

"I'm thinking maybe I should get more animals," he said in an attempt at cheerful conversation. "The farm's been mainly focused on crops, and I..." he trailed off slowly when Ann gave no sign that she was aware that Jack was even speaking. "You okay, Ann?"

"Yeah," she replied quickly, her head snapping up. "Yeah, crops. Good idea. Grow more crops."

There was a long silence as Ann resumed her straw-twirling and Jack stared at her incredulously. She was being... so un Ann-like, it was absolutely ridiculous. And he for one, was not going to stand by and watch it.

"Get up," Jack said shortly, rising to his feet. She blinked up, bewildered, before hesitantly standing. "Come with me," he continued, not feeling that he needed to give an explanation. Grabbing her wrist, he dragged her away with him – all too late, she realized that their destination was the beach.

"Why are you doing this to me, Jack?" she asked quietly when he finally stopped at the stairs. "It's not helping me, being here."

"I didn't bring you here just for the heck of it," he scoffed immediately. "I'm not that much of a jerk. There's a reason for it." Ann didn't even bother to ask what that reason was as he started pulling her towards the shore – before changing direction and walking right up to the door of the tiny wooden beach house by the dock, knocking on it impatiently.

Zack answered it with a frown on his face; an expression that quickly changed to confusion and a hesitant smile when he saw who it was. "Hey. What do you kids need?"

"You were working on the ferry that Cliff left on, weren't you?" Jack asked plainly. Ann's face lit up like it hadn't in days and Zack's grin faltered, but the young farmer pushed on. "Ann and I want to know where he went. Did he give you anything? An address... a phone number...?"

"Jack, I wish I could tell you," he said apologetically. "It'd be unprofessional of me."

Jack opened his mouth to argue, but Ann beat him to it. "Excuse me," she said, her voice as quiet as it had been minutes earlier – but not sounding sad this time; instead, sounding dangerous. "You're telling me that you _know _where he is... and you're just... not gonna tell me, is that right?" She had asked a question, but the way she'd asked made it clear that she didn't want an answer – and under her flashing glare, both men remained silent. "_You_," she emphasized, pointing an accusatory finger at Zack, "Should be so ashamed of yourself right now. I won't let you play innocent with me and pretend you haven't heard what those gossips have been saying about me – I _know _people have been talking, and for all I know, you've been talking, too."

"No, I haven't –"

"Can you prove that?" she asked sharply, and Zack fell silent once more. "I mean, why should I believe that? Because even if you haven't talked, I know you've _heard_. They're saying I'm heartbroken, that I'm never going to find another man now – that I'm going to die a _spinster._" She spat the last word and stepped up closer, her nose just inches from the taller man's. "And you know what? They're probably right. They _will _be right if I don't get the chance to talk to him. And it's all in your hands." She left the statement lingering in the air for a few moments, before stepping calmly back and resuming her position by a rather frightened Jack's side.

"W-well, look," Zack stuttered, obviously flustered. "I don't... I don't know any details... I don't know the address that he's staying at, or a phone number, or any way that you could contact him. All... all I know is the actual town." After a few more moments of being pressed, he blurted out the name, and Jack's eyes widened abruptly.

"Are you serious?" he asked quickly. "That's... that's the same town where my mom's house is. Is he staying at a hotel, or renting, or...?"

"A hostel, he said," Zack replied. There was a long, thoughtful silence, before Ann came out with a sudden statement that shocked both men.

"I'm going after him," she said simply. "I'll go to that town, then."

The two of them immediately protested that she couldn't, though not making any difference to her adamant face. "Ann, be reasonable," Jack begged. "You've never been to the city before – you don't realize how dangerous it is, or how _big _it is. You won't know how to get around, or where to go, and you won't have anywhere to stay – besides, where would you even start looking for Cliff? It's not going to work."

"Besides," Zack added in, looking like he was very much regretting giving the redhead any information to begin with, "Cliff told me he was only going to stay there for a week, then move wherever was convenient. After tomorrow's ferry, there won't be another one for exactly a week... and by then, he'll be gone. I really am sorry, but it's just impossible."

"How is it impossible?" she asked stubbornly. "I'll take tomorrow's ferry and come back on the one in a week."

"You won't be able to pack before tomorrow," Jack pleaded frantically. "Look, Ann... I need to talk to you about this. Just... come over here." He led her away by her wrist again, and Zack, relieved, closed the door on them. "Ann, I know it's tempting now... but it's insane. You've never been, so you honestly can't begin to understand how different it is there. It's... it's literally a completely different world. You can't just go into that unprepared."

Her stony expression hadn't changed through his speech, but now it softened. "Jack," she said gently, "Can't you see that none of that matters? I _need _him here." He looked sympathetic, but unimpressed by her argument, and she quickly changed tactics. "...Would you do it, if it was Mary? Or would you contentedly sit around here, _knowing_ that she was never coming back?"

Stunned, was the only way to describe his expression after that remark. "I – well," he eventually choked, "Of course I would go after her. No question about it. But I keep telling you Ann, it's a completely different thing – I know the city; I know how to take care of myself there. No doubt you'd do better than most people here, but you still wouldn't cope by yourself. And I know you're too stubborn to understand that, but I could _never _watch you go. Not alone. I wouldn't even let Jill go by herself."

"Jack... I'm sorry – I really am. But I've made up my mind, and I'm going." She turned away from him and began walking back towards the stairs, leaving him to make one final request in his panicked desperation.

"Will you let me go with you, then?"

Ann froze immediately before turning around, her eyes wide. "Would you?" she asked incredulously, a tinge of hope in her voice. Jack hesitated, debating his words, before nodding.

"I would rather that you didn't go at all – but if there's absolutely no changing your mind... then I'm at least going with you. I wouldn't trust you to even board the ferry safely if you were going alone. If you're determined to catch tomorrow's ferry..." he shrugged, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe what he was agreeing to, "We'll have to wing it from there... but I think we could do it."

She was still apparently welded to the spot in her disbelief. And then, after several moments, his words seemed to click in her head and she launched herself across the sand to throw her arms around his waist. "Thank you," she repeated over and over, "Thank you, Jack. I never... never thought I'd have a friend who would do anything like this for me."

"I never thought I'd have a friend as ridiculously stubborn and persuasive as you. Are you... crying, Ann?" he asked teasingly, prying her off him to see the unarguable moisture welling up in her eyes. She blinked impatiently.

"Hayfever."

"I'm sure," he scoffed. "Look, are you absolutely, a hundred and twenty percent certain I can't change your mind about going?"

"You can change _your _mind," Ann said simply, "But I'm going no matter what."

He stared at her for all of a second, before nodding sharply. "Well then... will we go and tell Zack there'll be two extra people on the ferry tomorrow?"

Ann laughed, looking incredibly tempted to hug him again. "I can't wait to see his face." She bounded off ahead of Jack – at least her spirit seemed to have returned with the prospect of _doing _something, instead of waiting around.

"... Both of you," the shipper said incredulously as the grinning pair stood inside his house. "Really? You're... you're both going to the city. Tomorrow."

"That's what we said," Ann sang cheerfully. "You can fit us on the ferry, right?"

"I – well, yes," Zack stammered. "I'll... if you're certain, I'll write your names down now. You'll have to pay –"

"I'll take care of it," Jack said instantly. Ann began to protest that _she _was the one that wanted to go, she should have to pay for _her_ fare at least if not his – but she was quickly silenced with one of Jack's rare serious glares. "I'm paying," he said firmly, "That's all we're going to say about it. Now you need to go start packing – you can protest all you like, but you're a girl, and every girl packs the same amount – too much. If you don't get started you'll be rushing madly tomorrow, and we'll miss the ferry." With that threat, the waitress quickly hurried off to get started on her packing, leaving Jack to count out the money and sign his name on the travel form.

"You don't want to go, do you?" Zack asked knowingly. Jack glanced up, a slightly amused smile on his face.

"I'd rather not... but it should be interesting, to say the least. I can't let her go alone."

"You're a proper gentleman," he sighed, his face showing that he was accepting, yet skeptical of Jack's decision. "You agree to go with her against your own wishes... then you go as far as to pay for her. And you're leaving your little lady behind, aren't you? How's she going to feel about that?"

Jack hesitated for a moment, admitting to himself that Mary hadn't crossed his mind, for once. Surely... surely she wouldn't mind – she knew he felt strongly enough for her to prevent him thinking about anyone else. Didn't she? Yes... yes. She must. "She won't worry. There's nothing for her to worry _about_, anyway."

Zack chuckled. "Well, you never know with women. They're a confusing lot... I think I know that firsthand. You take care of yourself, won't you? And Ann."

"Not a problem," Jack grinned in reply. "I guess going back will be kind of fun. Her reactions to everything will be, at least... she's got _no _idea what she's in for."

**xxx**

"This is kind of exciting, isn't it?" Ann asked breathlessly, pulling Jack down to sit beside her at one of the inn's tables. "Planning all this... I mean, I know we're going for a very specific reason, but at the same time... it's a bit of an adventure, huh?"

"Hey, I'm only going because you insist that you _have _to." At her crestfallen face, he smiled slightly. "But, yeah... I have to admit, it's kind of exciting. I'll take the time to show you around, too... may as well enjoy your first taste of the city. And you know what, I just realized that we could both stay at my mom's house and save money on accommodation too. I'll call her now if you want."

"Fantastic," the waitress said sincerely, her eyes sparkling. "I should... probably tell Dad that I'm going, too." She grimaced, then thought for a moment and rolled her eyes instead. "Actually, he'll be thrilled that you're going with me. I swear, he doesn't care who it is as long as he gets grandchildren..." she pushed to her feet and walked into the kitchen, while Jack shook his head and headed for the phone.

"You're _WHAT_?" Doug's voice echoed from the kitchen, around the dining area. Jack started chuckling as the other patrons shushed each-other and listened eagerly for the argument between father and daughter – but they were disappointed, as Ann made another remark and his tone instantly changed to encouraging. The words "Really? Jack?" could be heard through the mostly indistinguishable conversation, and the man in question winced as every eye in the place turned to him instead.

The farmer cleared his throat before turning back to the telephone and hesitating slightly before punching in the familiar number. It only rang twice before it was picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" his mother's voice said. It shocked him to hear just how _similar _it sounded... after his father's death; all three children had left her and she was responsible for looking after one grandchild... shouldn't she sound older? Tired, or something else to induce guilt? But no, he concluded in relief, she sounded just fine.

"Hey mom," he said cheerfully. "It's Jack – how are you doing?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, sounding suddenly tearful. "Jack... I'm just fine – I'm so happy to hear from you. You've just made my day."

"Glad I could help – but sorry the rest of your day must have been so crappy." He smiled to hear his mom start laughing, then quickly continued on. "I know that this is a really bad reason to call for the first time since Dad... but I need a really big favor."

"You're my boy," she said simply. "If I can do anything at all for you, I will. Do you need money?"

"No!" Jack retorted quickly. "No, it's not... not money or anything. I'm not in trouble. It's just... my friend and I are coming to the city for a week – we're leaving tomorrow – and I was wondering if we could stay... with you. Sorry that it's such short notice."

"You're coming back?" she asked, pure joy in her voice. "How wonderful! I haven't seen you in so long, and don't you _ever _think of yourself or your friends as inconveniences to me. What are you coming for?" Weighing his words carefully, Jack simply told her that his friend was coming to the city to look for _her _friend. Of course, at the mention of a 'her', his mother started again. "A girlfriend? A – a proper one; not just one of your casual... how long have you been seeing her?"

"We're not dating," Jack said hurriedly, shaking his head even though his mother couldn't see him. "Nothing like that. She really is just a friend."

"Ah," she replied, sounding disappointed. "Well... still, of course you two can come. Tell me what time your boat comes in; I'll send a driver –"

"I'm not sure yet. We'll catch a taxi from the port, it'll be fine. Really," he added on before his mom could protest. She was silent for a few moments, obviously unhappy with that arrangement, before she spoke up in a cheerful voice again.

"Make sure you tell your friend to call me Linda – none of this 'Miss Evans' formal nonsense, please."

Jack snorted. "Trust me, I don't think you need to worry about Ann being too formal with you." The redhead herself walked out of the kitchen, throwing Jack an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Mom? Ann and I need to go pack, okay? I'll see you... probably tomorrow evening."

"Of course... call if you need me to do anything else before you arrive. I love you."

"Love you, mom." He placed the phone back on the receiver before shooting Ann a triumphant grin. "That's all sorted – she's delighted to have us. And your dad's okay with it...?"

"It's a win-win situation for him," she scoffed. "He knows I'm going to look for Cliff, but the way he sees it, you're my fallback if we don't find him."

Jack sighed, walking closer and throwing an arm over her shoulder, making her nudge him in his exposed ribs. "Fallback... you wish, Ann. You wish. Now this is the last time I'm going to tell you to pack... and I should probably take my own advice, too."

**xxx**

"So you asked me to come home..." Jill started slowly, watching in slight confusion as her brother threw clothes into a suitcase, "Just so you could leave. Is that right?"

"No," Jack said briefly. Proper communication between the brother and sister was still noticeably absent; probably hand in hand with the absence of a proper apology from either of them. They knew only too well how stubborn the other could be – of course, they hadn't ever been in a fight that had ceased their friendship for _this _long before. Jill's curiosity had forced her to break through the barrier temporarily, but Jack wasn't wasting any time in putting it back up. "I'm going to the city with Ann for awhile," he growled, his tone signifying the end of the conversation.

Apparently, Jill had different ideas about that. "What? You can't be serious –"

"Well, I am."

"Are you completely stupid? Where did all this come from?"

"I am not the stupid one," he snarled as he whipped around to face her. "Whether or not you admit it to me, I _know _you're responsible for what happened between Ann and Cliff." The way the color drained out of Jill's face quenched the tiniest of doubts in his mind. "So don't call me stupid – don't say I'm rushing into anything – because all I'm doing is trying to fix your mistakes. Goddess, that's all I'm _ever_ doing."

"I hope your boat sinks," Jill replied immaturely, more hurt by his comment than she would care to admit, and refusing to respond to his accusation. "Have you even thought about where you're going to stay, or –"

"I called Mom. Ann and I are staying at home with her. It's all sorted, and all you need to worry about is keeping the house in one piece while I'm gone – although you'll probably stuff that up, too."

"Just shut up," she murmured through gritted teeth. "Do you have to be _such _a jerk? You don't think I need to know just a little about where you're staying; what you're doing?"

"As you pointed out a few days ago," her brother replied dryly, "You're an adult, and apparently you moved here for 'independence'. If that's true, you should be able to manage just one week without me drawing up a step-by-step plan for you, yeah?" Ignoring the stricken look on Jill's face, he moved across to a chest of drawers and started pulling more clothes out of that, refolding them meticulously before placing them into his suitcase. Something like guilt bubbled up in his stomach when Jill exhaled shakily, but his face remained impassive. She needed to grow up, and if being harsh with her was the best way to accomplish it, that was what he would do. "I'll look after Ann. We'll be fine – we'll have fun," he eventually sighed.

"I'm sure you will. I'm just afraid Mary won't see it that way," Jill said coldly, delivering a low blow of her own. Jack's face paled as he turned away from her.

"Do you want to mind your own business?"

"Do you want to tell me exactly _what _my business is?"

"I can tell you what it's not," he said sharply. "I can tell you that breaking up what would have been a perfectly happy couple is _not _your business. Ann and Cliff would probably be engaged now, if you weren't so idiotically selfish –" he cut himself off before it could go further and he could say something he really would regret.

Jill surveyed him through narrowed eyes. "If you are honestly so stupid that you can't see how guilty I feel about that –"

"Oh, you're _guilty_? That makes it all better, doesn't it? Guess what Jill – you being guilty is _not _going to bring him back. That's why I have to go with Ann; because the only way he's coming back to her is if she finds him first. So don't you dare give me crap about Mary because I'm going away with Ann – I'm nervous enough about telling her that, you know? It's not like I'm going on a freaking holiday; I'm fixing what you broke, and I'm not about to let you look down on me for that."

He zipped up his now full suitcase impatiently, standing it up beside the door before slamming out of said door and storming off the property, heading towards town. Jill sank down onto the couch, her head aching as she simply rested it in her hands. 'Guilt' was too mild to express how she felt, but at the same time, was it necessary to take it _this _far? Or was Jack, on some level, only going all the way to the city... to blatantly point out how much her actions had inconvenienced everybody?

As if she didn't know that. As if she'd been thinking about _anything _else for the past few days. But had she really done something so bad that it would stretch past the obvious immediate couple – Ann and Cliff – dragging her own brother in... and somehow affecting Mary, too? It was well past insane, how far this had gone – or how far it was being taken, depending on how she looked at it.

It was just weird, watching Jack go home – _no, go back to the __**city**_, she corrected herself – without her. She always figured that if they went back for a visit, they'd be going back together; and no matter how angry she was with him, it scared her to realize that maybe... maybe he'd discover a new-found appreciation for it compared to their simple country life. Maybe he'd _stay _there. After all – he had the temptation of wealth and status; the company. While it was obvious that he _liked _Mary, Jill couldn't be sure that he would choose her over the hundreds of pretty girls over in the city... all in all, there wasn't all that much that would keep him in Mineral Town if he really enjoyed his time away.

**xxx**

_Breathe slowly. Calm down, _Mary begged herself silently. _You told him you were fine. You swore. _She was sitting down at her desk, clenching her fists so tight that the nails left red, crescent-shaped indents in the palms of her hands. Despite the little calming meditations she was forcing herself through, her heart was racing at a dangerous speed – and she felt absolutely _sick _to her stomach.

"This is ridiculous," she choked to the empty library. _There's no reason for you to be making such a drama out of this. _But no amount of rational thinking was doing any good to settle her pounding headache and, breathing raggedly, she rested her head on her arms in front of her.

"_I have to go back to the city for a week," _Jack had said apologetically just a few minutes earlier. At that point, she knew her expression had dropped – the notion of spending a week with him so far away wasn't a pleasant one – but she eventually forced herself to smile and assure him that she hoped he would enjoy himself. After a worried glance in her direction, he'd sighed and stared at the floor. "_I'm... going with Ann. We're going to look for Cliff."_

And _that _was when the panic set in.

Of all people it had to be her, didn't it? Not one of his sisters, not one of the boys, not even Karen or Elli or Popuri – Ann. The girl that Jack got along with better than anyone else in the whole town – Mary's childhood friend who, she had to admit, she'd been more than a little jealous of over the past few months. Seeing how easily and well those two got along was... a lot for her to handle in itself. Now add him going away with the waitress, _alone_, for a week... and it was no wonder that the librarian was struggling to deal with the stressed state she was currently in. What if the two of them didn't find Cliff, and Ann broke down? And Jack took it on himself to... comfort her?

"Stop it," she snapped out loud, unable to stop a lone tear from trickling down her cheek. She wiped it away impatiently, but it was soon followed by another – and as they progressed into a steady stream, she gave up on wiping them away all together.

The sad thing was, imagining Jack with someone else felt worse than actually _seeing _Gray with someone else. And seeing Gray and Jill together had hurt a whole lot.

A shadow approached the door and her breath caught in her throat, first, at the thought that it might be Tom, and then at the thought that it might be Jack. Imagining the farmer walking in to see her in this state; see the obvious, though irrational jealousy and pain she was struggling through because of him – well, in all honesty, Tom would have been the preferred choice. But as her luck that day would have it, it was Jack who burst through the door, thankfully not even appearing to notice her tear-streaked face in his momentum.

"Mary," he said quickly, racing to get all the words out of his mouth, "Mares, what are you going to do if Tom takes advantage of the fact that I'm not here? I mean, obviously he's attracted to you, and he might see me not being here as a good opportunity to get his filthy hands on you. I'd never forgive myself if –"

"He's not that stupid," she replied shakily, keeping her head down and refusing to look at him in an attempt to hide her upset. "He wouldn't try it twice, especially knowing that I would tell everyone if anything at all happened."

"Yeah, but we didn't think he would be stupid enough to try it the _first _time, either," he mumbled, running both hands through his hair exasperatedly. "Do you want me to stay, just in case?"

_Yes_, was the only thought running through her head as she opened her mouth – and suddenly, she managed to stop herself. She didn't want to be 'that' girl... she wanted to be able to trust Jack, and have enough faith in him to let him go. No matter how awful and heartbreaking the entire week would be, it simply _was_ only a week – unless, Goddess forbid, Jack and Ann were to come back together with every trace of Cliff and Mary eliminated from their minds. "Don't worry," she said quietly, her gaze still determinedly avoiding his. "It'll be okay. You should go."

Jack's face undertook a sudden change from antagonized to downright concerned as he moved closer, resulting in the librarian glancing over her own shoulder to disguise the tears. "Mares... have you been crying...?"

"Of course not," she murmured. "Don't be ridiculous." He cupped her chin firmly and turned her face towards him, raising both eyebrows in shock.

"You're upset, at the very _least_, and it looks like you've been crying. What happened?"

"Are you deaf? I said I'm fine," she snapped defensively, pushing to her feet and walking away from him, ashamed.

"No, I'm not deaf, and you know perfectly well that I'm not blind either. What... what happened? I know you're upset, but I don't..." He faltered as Mary turned to face him, her eyes narrowed into a disbelieving glare.

"If I _was _upset, you can't think of a single reason why I might... never mind." She turned away again, cheeks burning in mortification. Goddess, it was worse than she'd thought – not only, was he obviously not going to miss her... he couldn't even see that _she _might miss _him_. She could feel his eyes on her, confused, but she refused to turn around – she'd embarrassed herself enough in front of Jack for one day, and she was _not _about to burst into tears in front of him. Of course, that plan was nothing short of abandoned when she felt his hand suddenly on her shoulder, gently forcing her to face him as that darn moisture welled up in her eyes once more.

"Mary, please." He pulled her into a close hug and she exhaled slowly, before mumbling into his chest.

"I'm just... going to miss you."

"What?" he asked, furrowing his brow and pushing her away a little. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," she retorted sulkily, crossing her arms over her chest; a barrier between herself and Jack. She blinked at the ground furiously, clearing the remaining tears from her eyes, as Jack tried in vain to make her look at him.

"Mary... Mares, look at me – _Mary_!" His suddenly raised voice startled her enough to make her glance up, and before she had the chance to turn away again, he clamped two firm hands on her shoulders and glared at her. She glared back stubbornly and neither broke eye-contact or let their scowls drop for a long, long time, before the librarian eventually gave in and looked away. "What's the problem? I won't be gone from you for long, you know."

"You won't be gone from _Mineral Town _for long," she corrected him, before cursing the fact that she couldn't just _once _keep her mouth shut to avoid an unavoidable barrage of questions. But, to her surprise, no questions followed – just one simple statement.

"You're an idiot."

"Excuse me?"

"You are a complete, total, unbelievable idiot," he repeated without hesitation. "I thought you were supposed to be intelligent, Mary, but _that _is the single _stupidest _thing I think I've ever –" he cut himself off in an effort to re-gather his patience before he lost it completely. Yes, he was genuinely annoyed that she would even _think _that! Had he... had he not made it obvious how he felt about her? This was completely different, completely new for him; feeling anything this strong towards any one girl, and Mary was standing there, upset, because she _doubted _him that much!

"I'm not an idiot," she replied quietly. "I'm just... like I said, I'm going to miss you."

"Because you think I'll be gone – not from Mineral Town, from _you – _for good, is that right? You don't trust me."

"It's not about trust! I can't control what you do, Jack – I have no right to even be... upset right now... I don't have the right to be upset if, while you were away, you decided there was," she seemed to choke over the words, "Someone else... you... preferred. Can we just leave it?"

"No, we can't 'leave it'!" he fumed. "You think... what do you mean you don't have the _right_? Mary, I'm – I'm going to tell you now that you have _every _right in the world when it comes to me. I'd do anything for you. There's no way I could 'prefer' someone else - I've never, never liked anyone this much before." His voice had become quieter at the end; now it picked up again. "If it were you... first, I would believe that you would come back to me. And second... if you didn't, I – Goddess, I don't know what I'd do. But I know that I'd believe I had the right to be pretty damn pissed off, yes? I'm _promising _you this. When I make a promise, I keep it."

Her gaze was steady and completely shocked behind her glasses, before she exhaled weakly and collapsed into the chair at her desk, somehow both frozen and limp with emotion all at once. Jack had his arms folded over his chest and his jaw set in a firm line as he watched her – but suddenly, something in his eyes softened, and a moment later without either of them really paying attention to how it happened, Mary was dry-sobbing in Jack's arms.

"You said we wouldn't fight anymore," she murmured, her fists clenched in the material of his shirt.

"I don't want us to," Jack sighed, his hands pressed reassuringly against her back. "But... you drive me absolutely insane, Mary. In every possible way, and... I hate it, but at the same time, it's... I just don't think it's normal for someone to have that amount of power over someone else." The librarian he was holding remained silent, almost – not quite daring to be, considering his recent explosion, but _almost_ – unable to believe the words he was saying.

But then he kissed her, and that one kiss sent all traces of doubt from her mind. Her hands clasped behind his neck; his hands laced in her dark hair – before Mary pushed away, hurrying over to her desk and rummaging through it with shaking hands. "What time does your ferry leave tomorrow," she asked quietly, her searching coming to an end as she gazed at something in her desk drawer.

"Five in the morning," he replied with a disgusted face. "It's bad enough waking up at six to farm, normally, but I have to be _on _the ferry at five which means I'll be up even earlier." His rambling eventually came to a halt as he realized the question had been asked for a reason. "... Why?"

She lifted a large sheaf of papers, holding them to her chest protectively. "As soon as I... give you this, I want you to leave with it. Don't come back here before you've left for the city, because I just know I'll beg you to give it back... okay?"

"Okay..." he said slowly, completely confused. "So I'm... I'm saying goodbye to you now, is that right?"

Mary nodded in reply, then shoved the papers into his arms, squinting her eyes shut. "Go, quickly. Now!" There was a silence, before her eyes flew open and she held her arms out again. "Actually, can I have that back?"

"See you," he smirked, leaning down and kissing her lightly while holding the papers out of her reach. She made a desperate grab for them and he left the library quickly, sticking his tongue out and winking at her blushing face in the process.

Once he was far away enough to be sure she wouldn't suddenly chase after him and tackle him to the ground in an effort to get her papers back, he curiously flipped the first sheet over. Skimming the page, his face broke into an incredulous grin. She _wouldn't_, would she? She'd been guarding this like a mother hen – and had told him many times, in no uncertain terms, that he was never allowed to see it.

Her novel. She wasn't just... giving it to him so he'd have something to read on the ferry – it was all symbolic, and more than anything else could, it showed just how much Mary actually did trust him – no matter what else she might have said.

**xxx**

"– I mean, I'm definitely going to be completely on track with finding Cliff while we're there, and it feels... awful to say, but I'm really excited. I don't want to say it's like a holiday, but I _am _going to the city for the first time, and it'll be... completely different. Jack says it's like another planet – hey, you would know, wouldn't you? What do you think of the city?"

"Overrated. I don't like the city," Gray replied tiredly. A long, long day at work – Ann talking his ear off was _not _what he needed right now, though in the back of his mind he wondered how Jill would cope with having Jack gone. He glanced to his left and did a double take – Veronica was sitting at the counter, staring blankly ahead with her chin resting in one hand, looking genuinely sad. He growled to himself, cursing his slightly compassionate side as he begrudgingly approached her and Ann retreated into the kitchen.

"You okay?" he asked gruffly, making her jump. She swiveled to glance at him and her face broke into a smile of recognition.

"Oh – hey. Yes, I'm... fine. Just... I was just listening to you and Ann. I heard Jack's staying with Mom, so he'll... he'll see Kayla."

"Your daughter?"

A beaming smile flashed across her face, quickly replaced by the same pensive, sad expression that had been there before. "Yeah, my daughter. I just... I haven't seen her for so long, you know? And at this age... I just have to wonder what I'm missing out on. She could walk, when I left, and she'd said her first words and everything... but I'll go back, and she'll be talking so much better, and... it just makes me a little homesick. Jack's going to see her; he's going to know what she acts like and looks like now – before I do, her _mother_. I don't know... it doesn't feel right."

"You don't seem like the mothering type," Gray said shortly, more than a little confused at the direction the conversation had taken. Veronica... had seemed, to him, to be someone who would see children as an annoyance more than a blessing. He wasn't unhappy to find himself wrong – surprised, yes, but somewhat pleased to see a more human side of Jill's apparently perfect sister.

The redhaired girl looked taken aback by the comment, then let her face relax into another smile. "I guess I don't. I never thought of myself that way, either, and I was scared beyond all belief when I found out I was pregnant. But once I actually had Kayla... everything was different, and it wasn't really a bad different." She smirked, glancing at her hands. "I'm starting to feel more like my old self here, but I won't mind going back to the city."

"How long is that now?"

"Two weeks," she said quickly. "In two weeks, Tom and I leave..." she trailed off, furrowing her brow as a new train of thought overtook her. "Goddess, it's not as far away as I thought. I –" she glanced sideways at the blacksmith, suddenly nervous. "I'm sorry, I need to go talk to Tom."

Gray watched in puzzlement as she pushed to her feet and raced off, her heels clacking steadily against the wooden floor. She obviously shared Jill's complete insanity at times. Ah, well – at least only one of the sisters was _his _problem.

**xxx**

Four o'clock the next morning dawned all too quickly for Jack; he had to physically restrain himself from smashing the alarm clock when it started beeping at him. Groaning at how dark it was outside his window, it took him ten times longer than usual to go through the ritual of getting dressed – not in his overalls, for once, but in a t-shirt and jeans – eating a slow breakfast and checking through his suitcase one last time, all the while doing his best not to wake up his sleeping sister. Of course, when he had only fifteen minutes before the ferry actually _left,_ he decided it was time he should leave the house.

Grabbing the suitcase with one hand and his half-eaten apple in the other, his gaze faltered on Jill – looking remarkably young and innocent in her sleep. His anger towards her remained constant, but right now there was guilt mixed in with the anger – guilt that was telling him to wake her up; to make amends before he left. But eventually, with the rather amusing mental picture of Ann waiting frantically at the beach for him, he pushed open the front door and cursed quietly as the frigid winter morning air hit him.

"About freaking time!" Ann yelled from her position on the dock, hands planted firmly on her hips. "I've been here since four thirty, wondering if you were even going to show up! It's almost five, Jack! They're boarding us any minute – have you never heard of being punctual?"

Jack simply rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face as he opted not to answer. Ann, like himself, had ditched her trademark overalls for more 'city-friendly' clothes – just a t-shirt and old pair of jeans that would hopefully attract less unwanted attention than her regular clothes would have. He had a bad feeling about the contents of her suitcase, though – she'd politely declined the offer to borrow any of Jill's clothes, and less politely _refused_ to borrow any of Veronica's – Jack was forced to confront the fact that first, it probably meant that overalls were all she'd brought apart from what she was currently wearing – and second... horror of all horrors, that meant he'd have to take her shopping.

Ann was far from what you would call a 'girly-girl'. But take _any_ girl into some of the city's better shops, and the idea of the credit card bill was enough to frighten the life out of any red-blooded man.

"Oh my Goddess," the waitress said nervously, clutching her suitcase as Zack called for the pair to board the ferry. "Goddess, Jack, we're actually doing it. We're actually going to the city."

"Okay," he nodded with a smile, "Don't freak yourself out. We're not going anywhere if you have a heart-attack before we get on the ferry." At least Ann payed attention to _that _threat; Jack finally got some peace as she concentrating on breathing slowly and becoming 'mellow', as she put it. That idea was prompty smashed when the tanned shipper let down the boarding ladder and she started hyperventilating, resulting in Jack having to physically pick her up and carry her onto the boat.

"She'll be fine," he insisted, rolling his eyes as several young sailors eyed Ann in 'concerned' interest. "Really."

"Back to work!" Zack instructed the lot of them – who promptly scattered to their various jobs, obviously afraid of him. "What, she gone and fainted on you?"

"She's nervous... just a little bit."

"Huh. Clearly. You think we should leave her behind?"

"I'm fine," Ann announced abruptly, suddenly completely alert. "You're not leaving me behind, I'm... I'm... I feel sick." Truth be told, she did look rather sick as she rushed to the edge of the boat and rested her head on the splintered wood. "Just motion sickness."

"We've barely even started moving – never mind," Jack sighed as the boat's siren sounded and they began their journey towards the city. He walked over to stand comfortingly by her side – all the while grimacing and anticipating the rest of their painfully long trip.

**xxx**

**:D yes yes, next chapter will be Jack and Ann's city adventures. Credit must go to Blue Cupcakes – I got the idea of sending characters to the city while reading a chapter of her story, and then when I had Cliff leave... well, sending Ann roaring after him in a blaze of fiery hair seemed almost too perfect :3**

**Review! I'll love you guys even more than I already do, if that's even possible.**


	44. Chapter 44

**Man, this is totally going to get knocked off the front page by all the Secret Santas tomorrow. I swore I would wait until the 27****th**** to update, I really did... but once I had it done, I felt really awful to keep it until then. I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight :P**

**Nyeh. MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! I gots me an early present from Dad, an ipod touch, and he's my baby. I named him Robbie. I hope you all get everything you want too XD.**

***blatantly advertises* I forgot to mention, thank you so much to those who reviewed Mastermind. I was off the internet, and wrote all the replies into a notepad document and fully intended on sending them all out when I went back on, but noooo, my laptop decided that it needed to restart to install an update and as it turns out, I'm too lazy to retype them. I wish it would warn me beforehand D:**

**Bubblefox** – Wow, thank you very much for the ideas! That would have been fun, but unfortunately I don't know the IoH game well enough to make it convincing or interesting XD so as you'll see, I've sent them straight off to the city. Jack's mom will bring up the company with him, you guessed it – and there'll be a big talk about it, but not just yet... that's in the next chapter or the one after.

**Sunny Morning** – Haha! Yeah, mopey-Ann is not my favorite person, no matter how much I love happy-Ann. Although, there's a LOT of happy-Ann in this chapter... a LOT... and she may well do your head in more than mopey-Ann did. Imagine the ferry-boarding piece at the end of the last chapter... for almost all of _this_ chapter. That's right, run away while you can. XD I don't think Tom's stupid enough to go back to Mary, considering how well that turned out the last time! You're absolutely right though, he treats women like objects and doesn't deserve to live. *muttermutter* And OMG, LOL, please, please tell me you're not still writing the first chapter. Either that, or your first chapter is strangely long... right?

**Kiminochi** – Aw, sorry about leaving you in suspense! Here's the chapter, so you can go ahead and read it and be in suspense until the next chapter :P but really, thank you very much and I hope this chapter was somewhat worth the wait. There's at least ten chapters until the end – at least – so the end is probably still pretty far away! Thanks!

**Jean Cooper** – Ah, Tom didn't fall off Mother's Hill. He was just spending some time in the cage of tigers that Kaiser Einrich made specially for him :D cause we love darling Tom soooo. Now, don't bother reading this chapter when you should be working on MEMF :3

**Muu-chan** – Jack and Ann in the cittttty XD. It'll be fun, huh? And everything works out nicely, so don't worry about that! It's still got at least ten chapters in it, but... you're right, it's getting closer and closer to being finished. I know that you've been around since the start of the story, so thank you, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it... because back when my writing needed so much work and my confidence was not so good, your reviews really kept me going and still do :)

**Katrina Tora** – No no, Ann hasn't seen a car XD and it's especially fun when she does. She's never even seen big houses, let alone big shopping centres! Hee! Well, if Ann finds a flying monkey somewhere in the city I'll get her to send it to you. :P thanks so much for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**DemonDude12** – Naw, well, I honestly really hope that you keep on enjoying it until the day it ends... which is getting closer and closer, and I'm going to be devastated when I have to give up my baby D: and LOL, you wonder what might come out of Ann and Jack going to the city together? I can tell you quite honestly that murder might come out of it, but apart from that, my lips are buttoned :) my ankle is heaps better now, thanks, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Alison Washington** – No problem, signing in is so overrated XD. Yeah, there's major chemistry between Jack and Mary... and I think that poor girl needs a break like this, considering what I've been putting her through in this story so far. Um... I get the feeling that, judging by your comment, you'll be a little annoyed at what Tom and dear Veronica have in store for us this chapter. Thank you for the lovely review!

**xPaparazzixChickx** – Seriously, I get your reviews in my email inbox and it's like... scroll down, scroll down, scroll down... XD I love it. A _flicker_ of hope? Girl, do you really think a sap like me is capable of writing something that isn't a happy ending? I think, more than anything, Jack's just worried... because knowing Ann, and knowing the city... the two won't mix particularly well. And he's going to regret the fact that he didn't make her leave all overalls behind, believe me. She'll have Daddy wrapped around her finger now that she knows 'Jack' is the magic word. Ah... the siblings fighting is what's making me saddest in this story at the moment, just 'cause... dude, they're best friends. You've gotta wonder how long they can cope without each-other. And Veronica... is giving some pretty mixed signals, I'll say that much. Is she good, is she bad? Of course, Tom is entirely bad and you love him despite it, and that fact never fails to make me giggle XD. And I'm so so glad that you picked up on her novel being kind of symbolic to her heart... because she keeps her novel so guarded, and since Gray, her heart's been guarded too... it's kinda corny :D Thank youuuu!

**melii101** – Thank you! My ankle is much better now – I can walk and run and dance, so all is good!And honestly, wouldn't we all love a boyfriend like Jack? Hehe – all your questions will be answered in the next three chapters (I have too much for them to do in the city, so I've got to keep them there for absolutely ages) and aw, it's nice to hear that I'm making you start to like JackxMary :D so, thank you very very much, and I hope you enjoy the chapter :3

**Kaiser Einrich** – Hahaha – the fact that you can't remember what you've just read is a reflection on me more than you XD. But if I may say so, you do an excellent job of winging it. Just like you look forward to my review replies that answer the reviews which I enjoy reading, I enjoy writing the review replies that you enjoy reading in reply to the reviews that... yeah. O.o let's not go any further into that, because I highly doubt my brain can handle it. Back to something vaguely resembling a review reply, Ann is a legend. I adore that girl and her determined can-do-ness. Mary... Mary Mary Mary. But really, you're right – it would've been one big ol' mess if she'd worked herself up during the week with insane paranoia, and then Jack came back with no idea she'd even been worried in the first place... lmfao, VERONICA not VICTORIA... but VERONICA is truly... the mixed signals she gives out make even my head hurt, so I can't even imagine you poor reviewers :3 and I let Tom out of the tiger cage for a tiny bit this chapter, but he's going straight back, believe you me. Get some more chili before you read this! :D

**WriterESK (Ekoaleko!)** - Hehe, aw, you've been a perfectly good reviewer. Three chapters isn't too bad – I've had incidents where I read the first chapter of a story and don't review again until the last chapter, so I'm not going to be hypocritical here XD but I must say it'd be nice if you reviewed every chapter, just 'cause it's you and your reviews give me the giggles :3 ahm... Jack and Ann in the city is shaping up to be TOO much fun to write, and I sincerely doubt that anyone will have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Heehee, we don't even meet Kayla in this chapter... next one for sure :) thank you!

**Ultra Drama Queen** – LOL. Well, if they don't eventually make amends, I promise I'll send them up the hill :P but don't worry, when I finish this I'll wrap everything up in a nice little package. Oh, Jill... I don't think she'll try to kill herself (haha – shouldn't I know?) but she's having a really hard time, and knowing how kind I am to Jill, we can only assume that it'll get worse before it gets better. Sorry! And ahaha, you know me too well... insanity will ensue indeed. I really hope you like this chapter, and I'm glad you liked the JackxMary XD.

**alberne Maedchen** – Yeah, it was a bit too fun writing that Mary bit... because she's so jealous, and she's trying to tell herself that shouldn't be, and she's not jealous, when we all know that she SO is. Oh, that's not good – you don't like Veronica because she reminds you of your own sister XD. Ah, Veronica... as I've said to people above as well, Veronica's even confusing me. I swear, that girl writes herself more than anyone else in this story. Thank you for reviewing!

**The Scarlet Sky** – Aw, I clicked on your review to write a reply and Robbie came up on my ipod's shuffle. Rofl. Anywaaaay, I don't even want to know how you managed to break your review button in the first place, and STOP TEMPTING ME WITH HILARIOUS ANN SITUATIONS. It's hard enough for me to cut it down without you waving shopping cart races in front of my face! :D And I'll take this opportunity to rant about Twilight while I remember; what do you mean they're not getting Taylor back as Jacob? He – besides general morbid curiosity, of course – was the only reason I went to see the movie. *pouts and boycotts New Moon*

**Cryptic Love **– Um... that's really, really NOT a short review. XD. Now I'm dying to see your super-long ones. My ankle is better, thank you, and I promise the next update will be even faster than this one! (Don't say this one wasn't fast :P it was two weeks, which is surprisingly good for me.) I don't know about other countries, but in Australia a hostel is where you pay to share like... a dorm room with a lot of other people, instead of your own room at a hotel. It's way cheaper, so I think that's what Cliff would do XD. Haha, right, the only one who knows is HmGirly... O.o there are some things that even I don't know until I write them! Where abouts is Manila? I'm going to take a guess, at risk of sounding completely dumb, and say Spain? Wait, that's Madrid... I failed geography, okay? Thanks for the review :) :) :)

**AsianFlipGurl** – Well thank you very very much for reviewing, considering that you didn't have much time – it makes it even more special :3 I suck at doing what people want to read, because we don't even hear anything about Mary's novel until the next chapter, and we don't find out what happens with Cliff and Ann yet, and... well, we do have a little bit on Veronica and a miniature bit for Tom, and I'm guessing that Veronica may make some readers very very very very very very very very angry indeed. Very very very. XD thank you so much, and I hope all your school work ended up okay!

**DoubleKK** – Aiiii! What a lov-er-ly long review! Hehe, I hope the re-read went alright once you didn't have to put up with the pure awfulness of the first twelve or so... unless you went back and read the old ones, in which case I'm going to kill you. *glare* I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and that now you're not quite so busy and found some time to relax, and that you got into your volleyball team... if you wanted to get into the volleyball team. (Bad memories of primary school volleyball and noses that would never be quite the same after I spiked the ball into them, by accident of course. Bad memories.) And that your nasty friends quite conveniently drink either a niceness potion, or poison. I know, right? I would never eeeever let a boyfriend, or friend, or family member read my writing. My family has begged, and my darling mother actually went searching to find my story once – but I think she came across... it might have been one of Scarlet's, actually, and thought it was mine until I set her straight. I wish, Mummy. I wish XD. Enjoy!

**Quartet** – Oh, thanks :D um... the Gray and Veronica scenes? For a... particular reason? NEVER! O.O -cough- ehm, but you're right, it would just about break little Jill's heart if anything were to happen there. You KNOW Jack and Ann are going to cause a helluva lotta drama – hopefully funny drama – and you're right about the Mary thing. Thank you so much!

**Kingshine** – Thank you so much. Your favorite story? Wow :D :D :D that's a big compliment. If you're still reading (hopefully) I hope you really enjoy this chapter, too!

**As always, I love you guys. In a non-creepy way... mostly O.o**

**xxx**

It was possible that Ann had officially died.

She stood on the city dock, her mouth hanging open with her eyes wide and unblinking as Jack scrambled for their luggage. No sign of movement – no sign of _life_ coming from her – it was entirely possible that she'd had a heart attack. Of course, that was probably lucky for her – after an entire day's ferry trip, Jack was more than ready to murder her himself.

It wasn't the fact that she was extraordinarily over-the-top about most things; it was the fact that she was over-the-top about EVERYTHING she'd seen on the ferry. Mobile phones? A woman with her ears pierced? Bottled water? Anything that the waitress hadn't seen in Mineral Town was deserving of a full-scale parade, squealing, jumping up and down and blatant pointing – and more than once, Jack had entertained himself by pondering the best way to 'accidentally' push her overboard.

But Jack had made it – he'd arrived at the city murder-free, only to have Ann die on him as soon as she caught sight of the thousands of people walking the streets.

"You there?" he asked exasperatedly, struggling to carry the bags belonging to both of them and wave one hand in front of Ann's face at the same time. "Come on, we need to get in a taxi. Once we get to Mom's and drop our stuff off, I swear I'll take you on a tour." She wasn't moving anywhere; he grabbed her arm and, to his relief, found that she could be led around quite easily. "Alright, can you take your suitcase at least?" The redhead slowly gathered her suitcase in her arms, clutching it to her chest as she followed Jack, her eyes wandering in every direction while they wove through the crowd.

"Hey! Taxi!" Jack yelled suddenly, raising one arm and smiling in satisfaction at something just out of Ann's view. He pulled her past a few more people, before throwing his hands over his ears at the sound of another of Ann's freakouts.

"What in the name of the Goddess is that?" she screamed, earning disapproving scowls from everyone who passed her. Jack glanced around awkwardly as she ducked behind him, hiding her face in the back of his t-shirt. "What is it?"

"A taxi," he exhaled, clenching his fists until the knuckles went white. "It's a type of car. _Please _tell me you know what a car is." Judging by her blank expression and suspicious glances at the taxi as she refused to step out into direct sight of it, she didn't have a clue. "Oh no," he muttered under his breath, squinting his eyes closed and counting to ten. "Ann, get in the taxi."

"I'm not just going to let it eat me," she hissed indignantly. "Why would I get in to something like that?"

"It's..." Jack hesitated, not wanting to lose his patience with her. "Look, Ann, it's like a moving house. There's heaps of them in the city – people buy their own – and you get in the door and sit down, and it takes you wherever you want to go."

"Yeah, right," she snorted. "I might not know much about the city, but I know you don't have magic here. A moving house that takes you wherever you want to go? _Right_, Jack, I believe you."

He groaned in exasperation, nodding to the driver and walking around to the back of the car to load the suitcases in. Ann watched for a moment, an indignant look on her face when she realised what he was doing. "Don't," he warned before she could protest. "Just don't say anything – do exactly what I do. You promised you'd let me help you – I _told _you it was a completely different world, and you believed me." He clicked the back door open and slid in onto the leather seats. "Now come on. I promise it won't eat you."

She approached the open door slowly, skirting around it a few times before taking a deep breath and scooting in to sit on Jack's lap. He promptly pushed her off, growling in annoyance. "You have your own seat!" He elbowed her over until she was sitting in the right place, then did up his seatbelt and glanced at her expectantly. She gazed right back with big confused eyes, making him growl again as he leant over and snapped her seatbelt up for her. "Now just... try not to think. Or talk."

He gave the driver his mother's address and the taxi pulled out of the bay, resulting in Ann squealing and clamping both hands over her mouth, pressing her nose up to the window in amazement as the world outside sped past. The driver, looking extremely confused, glanced in the mirror to watch Ann's complete astonishment. "Is she Amish, or just insane?" he asked Jack, shaking his head in wonder. "I've had some pretty strange things in this cab, but I reckon your lady's the strangest of them all."

"She's a little bit Amish, in a weird way," Jack replied, staring out his own window, "But it's mostly insanity."

The car ride passed without... well, _not _without incident, if you would consider Ann conveniently and delightedly working out how to open the taxi's doors right in the middle of a _very_ busy street an 'incident'... needless to say, after that she was forced to move to the middle seat, next to Jack and out of reach of any doors or windows. But eventually the houses they passed grew more and more familiar to Jack, the area grew slightly more suburban, and the driver's face looked significantly more relieved with every mile and the idea that the crazy girl wouldn't be his problem for much longer. And with one more corner into a wealthy street, Jack was home.

It was an impressive sight, granted – a very large double-story house made out of white brick. The driver pulled up onto the kerb outside the large set of gates and Jack got out, grinning at the familiarity of the place before realising Ann hadn't joined him. She was still in the car, staring helplessly at her seatbelt as if it were a particularly difficult algebra problem, and Jack truly entertained the idea of leaving her there before reluctantly leaning over and setting her free. When she finally clamored out of the car, her jaw nearly hit the ground.

"No _way_. Jeez man, you're like... a bazillionaire."

Jack smirked. While his house wasn't quite a mansion, there was nothing remotely close to it in Mineral Town – Ann probably looked at it like a castle of some sort. The well-kept garden... and fountain... probably weren't helping, either. "Yeah, it's nice."

"_Nice_? Apple pie is _nice_. Puppies are _nice_. Your house is just – wow."

Jack left Ann to gawk as he moved around to the front window and handed the taxi driver his fare. "Thanks very much. I hope she hasn't scarred you for life."

"Ah, I had to leave the job someday. Just didn't think it'd be so soon," the man replied, shaking his head. "I don't understand why you've got her here, but I wish you the best of luck." They both turned around to see Ann staring at the sky with wide eyes and an open mouth as an aeroplane flew past. "Something tells me you're gonna need all the luck you can get." He quickly moved the car into reverse and backed away, finally free from the madness. If only Jack were so lucky.

"Come on," he sighed, taking the redhead by the elbow and steering her towards the house. "Look, just... try not to creep my mom out, okay? She's getting older... she's not really... used to people like you."

"Like me?" Ann asked vaguely, her eyes travelling in every direction, attempting to drink in everything all at once.

"Weird people," Jack shot straight back. The girl wasn't alert enough to be offended, so he wasn't murdered on the spot – but after ringing the doorbell, hearing his mother's trademark high-heels clicking down the hallway and watching the door open – he almost suffocated to death in the middle of a tight hug and designer perfume. "H-hey, Mom..."

"Come in, baby," she beamed, extending a hand to take one of his bags. He refused her help, simply dropping the bags in the hall as soon as he got inside the house. "It's so wonderful to see you. And won't you introduce me to your little friend?"

"Uh, yeah. Mom... this is Ann. Ann, my mom... Linda." He watched nervously, _praying _that his mother would be polite to Ann, at the very least. She'd never liked his girlfriends – something to do with him being her only son; she believed that no girl would be good enough for them. Ann wasn't his girlfriend, but in his mother's eyes... she was still a girl. Sometimes she was relatively accommodating, but when she took a real dislike to a girl, absolutely nothing would change her mind – and she was extremely good at seeming polite, while actually being horribly rude. With the more lady-like girlfriends, they'd taken his mom's crap and smiled – he definitely couldn't see that being the case for Ann. And he was _not _going to watch a punch-on between his mom and best friend, no matter how amusing that would undoubtedly be.

"This is... the best house I have _ever _seen," Ann said slowly, her eyes travelling over the paintings on the walls to the detailing along the crease of the high ceiling, and down to the soft carpet underneath her feet. Jack bit his lip, resisting the urge to smack her upside the head – way to play it cool, Ann. Yeah, the city was new for her... houses like this were new for her... but his mom was going to freak out completely, and –

"W-well, thank you very much," Linda said with a surprised smile. "It's lovely of you to say so. Come on into the kitchen – do you have tea, or coffee?"

The confused expression on Ann's face showed that she was about to ask what coffee was, and Jack quickly jumped in. "She'll – uh, both of us will have tea. Thanks Mom." They followed her through the hall, through a large doorway into a light, open and immaculately clean space. The fridge and modern oven stood by counters on one wall, while the other side of the room was occupied by a large dining table.

"Sugar?" Linda asked, gesturing to the table for Jack and Ann to sit down. Jack obeyed but Ann stayed standing, walking over to stand in the kitchen with her.

"Wow – my dad and I would kill for a kitchen like this. Do you need any help with the tea, Ms. Evans?"

"Please dear, call me Linda," she replied warmly. "It's lovely of you to offer – you'll find teabags in that cupboard over there, and mugs over here... learn your way around the kitchen, so you can get yourself anything while you're here."

It was Jack's turn to look incredulous, watching Ann and his mother chat like they were lifelong friends. First, she had _never _let any friend of his call her Linda. Male or female, it had been Mrs. Evans until her husband died – and admittedly, Jack was rather proud of Ann for realising she was now a 'Ms.' and avoiding an awkward situation - and if anyone had ever called her Linda to begin with, they would be very quickly and harshly corrected. For her to... not only give permission, but _tell _Ann to call her Linda... was unfathomable. And... showing someone around her precious kitchen?

You know, he'd always suspected that Ann had brainwashing powers. Now he knew for sure.

"Mom? Ann can stay in Jill's room, right?"

"No, honey," she replied, "It's not... suitable anymore. I changed it into a nursery for little Kayla – I'd show her to you now, but she's sleeping and I really don't want to wake her up – "

"You changed Jill's room into a nursery?"

"Oh please, it's not like she's coming back to claim it anytime soon," Linda snapped, placing Jack's cup of tea down in front of him. He took a long sip. "Besides – you've got a queen sized bed Jack; why does Ann need to stay in a different room?" He promptly choked on his drink, coughing harshly until he could gather his words into a coherent sentence. Ann was just standing there and grinning, getting a kick out of his discomfort.

"I told you she isn't my girlfriend –"

"Yes, but –"

"We are not in _any _kind of relationship. Period."

"Jack," his mother smiled, shaking her head at his protests. "Oh Jack. You know I'm not weird about _that_. I've been fine with it since you were sixteen, and you're twenty-four now. Sharing a bed a girl _'friend'_ is absolutely okay – I understand young people; I didn't come down in the last shower. You know I'm open-minded."

"Oh my God," he muttered in absolute disbelief, steadily going redder than should be humanly possible. A glance out of the corner of his eye showed him Ann's face turning a peculiar color as she tried to hold in her laughter – typical; she would just find something as downright embarrassing as this 'funny' while freaking out at all the insignificant, tiny things. "Mom, I swear, I will go and stay in a hotel if you don't listen to me. Ann and I are _friends_. And considering that you've changed Jill's room into a nursery – nice, by the way – we may well have to go to a hotel. Where's Ann supposed to sleep?"

"Stop fussing. Veronica's room is perfectly fine." It was Jack's turn to grin evilly as Ann contemplated Linda's words and looked like she was about to leap out the nearby window. "You've met Veronica, haven't you Ann?"

"Y-yes," she said with an extremely forced smile. "Met her... yes."

"You girls seem like you would get along well," Linda nodded, her blonde, shoulder-length hair bouncing. "Well... Jack, do you want to show her to Veronica's room? Just come and tell me if you kids are going to go out somewhere, so I don't panic."

"Sure Mom," Jack grumbled, walking back out of the kitchen and into the previous hallway with Ann in tow. There was a silence between them; Ann had her lips pursed again and was obviously trying to conquer a fit of giggles. "Alright, just say it."

"Sixteen, huh?" she blurted out with a wink, her face a lovely shade of purple. "Your mom's awesome."

"Here's a crazy idea," he said thoughtfully, leading her up a large flight of stairs and into another hallway. "Uh... why don't you... shut up?"

She smirked to herself, starting to glance around again. "You actually do have an unbelievable house. I didn't know houses like this even _existed_."

"I am so not bringing you into the actual city. That could be nothing but bad for my wellbeing." The redhead opened her mouth to argue but Jack quickly held up one hand, silencing her. "Look, here's Veronica's room... you're okay with sleeping here, aren't you?"

"I don't want to get her germs on me," Ann said immaturely, "And I'm pretty sure she's going to be _mad _when she finds out that I was in her room." With that thought, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Actually, it's absolutely fine by me." But when Jack twisted the doorknob and the door swung open, the girl's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

It was less of a bedroom, and more of a trophy room. One entire wall was covered in sashes, while high shelves held a ridiculous amount of trophies and awards for cheerleading, interschool sport, and academic achievements. A huge bed with a light blue doona cover and matching pillowcases was pushed into one corner, and close to it was an incredibly large mirror and vanity. Two doors on the opposite side of the room signified a walk-in wardrobe, and finally – amazingly, considering how much stuff was already in the room – a large desk complete with phone, desktop computer, laptop, various printing and scanning devices, and a filing cabinet. The electronics obviously had Ann thrown, but even the things she knew were equally surprising.

"Would it be fair," she asked curiously, examining the gold print on a sash, "To say that your sister might have been an over-achiever?"

"We'll see," he smirked, waving her over near the desk. She blinked at the computer a couple of times, reaching out and poking the standby light with her index finger, before Jack pulled on her sleeve. "See this?" he asked, pointing to the filing cabinet.

"She was super organized too?"

He pulled one drawer open with a flourish, letting the redhead's mouth open and close in disbelief. "No _way_." It was completely packed with certificates. As in, _completely _packed. "For excellent solo and team results in the national cheerleading championships," Ann read, her eyebrows lowered. "Veronica Evans, for scoring in the 99th percentile in the state-wide mathematics competition. For scoring in the 98th percentile in the _national _mathematics competition. For the individual highest mark in the state-wide science competition... this is ridiculous. What is she, a freak of nature?"

"Something like that," Jack nodded. "Tip of the iceberg. There's a whole lot more stuff in storage, and she's thrown out everything where she scored in below the 95th percentile."

"I'd die, growing up with a sister like her," Ann said abruptly, before her thought process kicked in and her face fell. "Goddess... poor Jill."

"You're telling me. I don't think she's won a trophy in her life. When we were younger –" the corner of his mouth twitched, "– when we were much younger, Veronica and I gave Jill our dud, small trophies. She was so proud – kept them up on her dressing table and polished them and everything, until Mom asked her... why she couldn't go out and win her own if she liked them so much." His expression became more thoughtful and he absent-mindedly stared at a framed photo on Veronica's desk; she had one hand over her mouth in feigned shock as she was crowned homecoming queen. A good-looking blonde boy had obviously just won homecoming king, and he was close to drooling as he stared at the stunning girl beside him.

"She's a princess, too?" Ann asked suddenly, elbowing Jack out of the way so she could get a closer look at the photo.

"No..." he sighed, "It was at a dance thing – you know what, never mind. Come on. I'll show you where my room is and then you can get unpacked in here."

"Ooh," the waitress said a few minutes later, her eyes wide as she took in Jack's bedroom. "This wasn't what I was expecting." Jack's room was significantly more... modest, than Veronica's – he had a few larger trophies around the place, but far from the extent of the previous room. It was half a typical boy's room – with football posters and sporting merchandise scattered around – but it was also extremely tidy, and _nice_. Color co-ordinated, well-spaced, and Ann had to muffle her giggles at just how different it was to how she'd imagined it.

"I like to be tidy," he said defensively. "I don't see why people would live in mess when it's just as easy to clean it up." There was no trace of humor on Ann's face now; her eyes were sparkling in what could only be described as complete joy.

"Marry me?"

"Sure. You keep dreaming. Besides, Cliff is reasonably tidy... Gray, and Rick and Tim are... Kai is too, for all I know."

"Oh, right. Cliff... I remember him. Black hair, right? Or was it red hair...?"

Jack stared at her for a little while, plainly not amused by her attempts at humor. "Alright. I'm going to take you out for lunch and we can start thinking about where to find Cliff, _if_, you promise me you won't scream at everything we see."

"I won't scream at _everything _we see," Ann repeated in a solemn voice – but that didn't mean she wouldn't freak out at the very vast majority. Jack was in for a tough week.

**xxx**

"I do not believe this," Jack murmured, pressing one hand to his forehead in pure frustration. "Why, Ann? Why did you refuse to borrow Jill's clothes?"

"I thought my overalls would be fine."

"I _told _you that they weren't!" he exploded. "Are you telling me that you didn't pack _anything _apart from overalls, and the clothes you're wearing?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I packed a toothbrush, and underwear, and a wash cloth, and –" she was cut off by the most evil glare she'd ever received – heck, that one might be in the running to beat the evil glares she'd _given_.

"Right here is fine, thanks," Jack snapped at the taxi driver, who was reasonably lucky compared to the first man they'd had – Ann had been too occupied by Jack's wrath for the entire trip to notice anything outside the cab. The taxi swerved to a drop-off bay at the side of the road, and Jack fumbled through his wallet as Ann climbed out.

"Twenty three dollars... thanks. Uh... your girlfriend seems eager to get rid of you," the man teased, making Jack's head snap around in horror.

"Where did she go?"

"Straight up the street. She was practically running, and glancing around like she was looking for something. Ya better hurry or you won't catch her. Quick little thing. I remember high-school; I knew a girl who looked something like –" the farmer slammed the door while the cab driver was still talking, sprinting up in the same direction the man had pointed. It didn't take long before he caught a glimpse of a vivid red braid amongst the crowd, and almost knocking someone over in the process, he grabbed Ann's shoulder and pulled her back roughly.

"Do you want to get yourself _killed_?"

"It's fantastic!" she screamed hysterically, earning a wide variety of peculiar glances. She didn't even realise in her excitement. "This is... amazing, oh my _Goddess_! I've never – look at all these houses, Jack!"

"Don't run off into the city without me, I'm telling you, anything could hap –"

"They're pretty weird looking houses... or are they shops? Oh, who cares, would you look how tall that building is! And the people are just... look at that weird girl!" She pointed right in the face of a black-haired, tanned young woman who was wearing heavy makeup and pointy, high-heeled boots with not-so-modest clothes.

"You got a problem?" the girl snapped, clenching her fists. "You want me to re-arrange that smile for you?" Ann blinked a few times, her grin fading in confusion.

"She's my sister," Jack cut in with a sheepish smile and a wink. "Sorry about her... she's, uh... not all there. Can't appreciate real beauty, obviously."

"Oh," the girl giggled, a smile lighting up her face as she batted her eyelashes at Jack. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise. Hey, sorry for getting impatient with you," she said to Ann in a patronizing, sweet voice. "What's your name? I'm Sarah."

"She's Ann, I'm Jack," he said, glancing away. "I've got to get my little sis back to the hospital now... so, see you around."

"Wait – can I have your number?"

"My mobile's broken right now," Jack replied smoothly, delivering a well-rehearsed line. "I'll get your number and give you a call when it's fixed, okay?"

"Yeah," she replied instantly, pulling a pen and scrap of paper out of her bag. "Yeah, of course. See you soon, then?"

"Count on it," he said with another wink, accepting the phone number and grabbing Ann's forearm. He marched her away down the street, glancing quickly over his shoulder before depositing the number straight into a bin. "Don't make me do that again. We do not insult people to their faces, okay?"

"Ooh!" Ann exclaimed, completely ignoring his solemn warnings and pointing straight ahead to a large Christmas tree, covered in bright lights. "Look at that!" Exasperated, Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the crowd, until they were on a street that was still busy, but with not-so-packed sidewalks.

"Please, _please _stop being so... enthusiastic," he begged. Ann quietened down somewhat, and he exhaled in relief. "Thank you. Now... I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm going to take you clothes shopping. You just... won't survive a week in the city without anything but overalls. I've got a bunch of money from home, so you show me what you like and I'll buy it for you."

"Really?" Ann asked excitedly, bouncing off the balls of her feet slightly. "Oh, wow. Where do we buy clothes?"

"There was a shop up here that Veronica and Jill loved," Jack said, inclining his head up the street. "We'll look there, then make our way around. And to answer your question... well, practically anywhere in the city. Come on." Taking her wrist in an iron-grip, Jack started leading her up the street, walking on the edge of the footpath right beside the actual road. They'd only gone five meters before a loud chorus of wolf-whistles started up, and a dark blue car with four rowdy boys slowed right down to drive at the pair's walking pace.

"Hey sweetheart," the guy in the passenger seat, closest to Ann called out with a wink. "That's a nice set of legs you've got on ya, huh?

"Yeah!" another, particularly obnoxious man leered from the back window. "I always liked redheads. You want to come along with us baby?"

"She's with me," Jack growled, curling one arm around her defensively. Ann was staring at them, her eyes wide and her teeth biting down on her bottom lip. There was a loud collective 'Ooh,' from the four men as they cracked up laughing.

"Ditch ya boyfriend," the front passenger said again. "We'll show you what a good time really is. Come on –" he reached out the open window and grabbed a fistful of Ann's shirt material, making her scream as Jack pulled her roughly away. The men hooted in delight as her shirt ripped so that she was showing a lot more skin than she had been before; but they were somehow intelligent enough to speed off before Jack lost it completely.

"God," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm just _really _glad I didn't let you come alone. Quick, we'd better get you a new shirt as soon as we can – you look homeless. And... things like what just happened are why you shouldn't run off by yourself, okay?"

"They were just like Kai," Ann replied with wide eyes. "Except none of them was wearing a purple bandanna." She giggled suddenly. "Well, whatever. Sucks to be them – their moving house was broken; did you see how slow it was going when they were next to us?"

"..."

"Jack?"

"In here," he sighed, pushing her through the door of a cute little boutique. "Umm... we'll get a shirt for you to wear right now... and I'll take you out tonight, so you can get something to wear for then in here – but we'll go to a bigger store for everything else. So... find something you like."

Twenty minutes later, they had a decent amount of shopping bags and enough clothes to last Ann more than a few days. Funnily enough, no saleswomen had been very helpful at all – until Jack informed _them_ also that Ann was his sister, at which point they'd become incredibly doting and cheerful.

"This one," Ann said, shoving open the door to yet another shop. The outside was painted purple and the inside was much the same, with eccentric pieces of jewelry and quirky clothes hung up around the place. Jack wrinkled his nose – it really wasn't the kind of place he wanted to be; they were trying to get clothes that would make Ann blend in slightly – and _nothing_ in this shop would help them obtain that image.

"Maybe we should keep go – Ann?"

The redhead didn't reply, her eyes steady and hands clasped in front of her as she gazed reverently at something across the room. A little afraid, Jack followed her slow steps – until they arrived at the most gaudy, ugly hat he had ever seen. It was lime green, had a wide brim, and large white polka dots were scattered all over it. Just _looking _at it made him want to hurt himself.

"Jack, I _need _that."

Or, hurting Ann would work just as well.

"You do not. It's awful, Ann! Where would you ever wear it?"

"_Everywhere_," she breathed, staring at it in rapturous awe. "I _love _it. Please buy it for me?"

"No way!" There was a heavy scowl on his face, and several customers glanced over in mild interest at the apparent 'lover's tiff'.

"_Please_, Jack? Please Jack please Jack please Jack?"

"I said that I would buy you –"

"Clothes that I like. I don't just like this; I love it. With my whole heart."

"Put it back, Ann. We're going to another store." She stared at his impassive face, her bottom lip quivering in disbelief. He felt remotely guilty – she literally looked as if he'd just broken her heart.

And then she dropped to the floor.

"Ann!" he snapped in disbelief, ducking down to her level. "What the _hell _do you think you're doing?" She simply shook her head, refusing to speak. She had her knees tucked up to her chest, one arm wrapped around them as she rocked back and forth, the other hand balled into a fist and crammed into her mouth. Classic distraught position. "Ann, _please _get up."

"No," she mumbled, her speech obstructed by her own hand. "Buy me the polka dot hat."

Ten seconds later they had left the shop, Ann beaming in delight and glancing at the hat on her own head in every window they passed. "I love you Jack."

He grumbled something at her in reply – the waitress couldn't be completely sure of his exact words, but it certainly didn't sound like a declaration of equal love.

**xxx**

"Until _when_?"

"The new year," Veronica beamed, her eyes sparkling. Back in Mineral Town, things had been reasonably quiet – until now. Gray, walking home from work, had been ambushed by the redhead who was telling him news that would have Jill more furious than he cared to imagine – she and Tom had extended their stay in Mineral Town.

"Why?"

"Oh..." she said slowly, glancing at her hands. "Um... we like it here. We don't feel like we've had the opportunity to see everything. The second of Spring will hopefully be enough time." _Unless that stubborn brat of a sister has anything to do with it._

The biggest problem was, Jill was suddenly snubbing _Tom _off! The disaster that was for their plan was unfathomable – Jack had mentioned an idea of handing the company over, but as long as the two of them weren't in agreement... hold on.

... Jack and Jill were fighting. If she could _keep _it that way until the New Year, Jack probably wouldn't even discuss it with Jill – let alone take her advice into account when he made a decision. If she could subtly keep playing one against the other, causing small arguments to ensure that neither caved and apologized... it seemed like things might turn out perfectly, after all.

"Opportunity to _see _everything?" Gray scoffed, cutting brutally into her thoughts. "Are you joking? It would take you... a week at maximum to see everything you could possibly see in this place. And you've had more than four weeks so far."

"What are you saying?" she asked, expertly turning the accusations around on to him. "I... I don't know, I thought we were friends – or getting there at least. So how come you're so eager to get rid of me?"

"That's not what I said," Gray shot back, a blush rising up in his cheeks. "I said that I can't believe you haven't seen everything, after all this time."

"Well, there are things I haven't seen," she snapped. "And there are people, like you – I wanted to get to know you a lot better. You seem like a genuinely nice guy, and I just thought that maybe... we could be good friends. But obviously, you're letting Jill's view of me shape yours. You hate me because _she_ does, huh?"

"I don't hate you," he groaned. "Veronica, I like you – you've hurt Jill, but at the same time... you've been nothing but nice to me. I love Jill – and if she's uncomfortable with you and I being close friends, that's a sacrifice I'll make. But... that doesn't mean I don't _want _to be friends, okay?" He hesitated, extending a hand to her before quickly pulling it back and tugging his hat down to cover his eyes. "You... I don't know, you seem like a nice person. And I didn't think I could even begin to think that much about you, considering what you've done to someone I love. So..."

"Veronica?"

"I should get back," Gray said quickly, his lips pressed together in distaste as Tom approached the pair. He turned on his heel and walked away, while Tom approached Veronica and kissed her lightly.

"Did you tell _him_?"

"I told him we were staying until Spring," she replied coldly, pulling back from her husband very slightly. "I don't see a problem with that – they're all going to find out soon. I wish you wouldn't talk about him like he's beneath us."

"He's a blacksmith," Tom replied with a smirk. "Of course he's beneath us – even your sister could do better. I'll see you at the inn." He also strode off, leaving the redhaired woman staring after him with something like annoyance.

_Even your sister could do better_. In terms of... status, and money, maybe Jill _could_ do better. She could probably find a young business man in the city; she could probably find someone else like Tom – well respected and reasonably wealthy. But... could Jill _ever_ find someone who loved her more than Gray did?

It was an uncomfortable and unwanted revelation, but in the moments where Veronica had seen Gray and Jill together, it was plain how they felt about each-other – and that in turn was showing her the flaws in her own relationship. Gray wasn't always openly affectionate towards Jill; the two didn't hold hands or kiss constantly... but the way he _looked _at her. The way he would hold doors open for her or always insist to walk her home – the old-fashioned things that Tom didn't, and never had bothered with.

But it mostly was, as she had said, the way he looked at her. Like Jill was some divine being; something _so _special... and the look in his eyes never changed. It didn't matter whether she was dolled up and looking absolutely beautiful, or whether she was in trackpants and hadn't slept in days or brushed her hair – it didn't make the slightest difference to him. Maybe other people wouldn't notice – maybe Veronica herself was being too observant – but the lack of that in her marriage was what made it stand out to her – she hadn't known that love like that _existed_.

Did Tom love her? Sure, he did. He was married to her after all, that proved that he did! But at the same time... some things had really hurt her in the duration of their relationship, and she'd never brought them up with anyone else before.

The one particular event that stuck in her mind to this day, was the day her daughter was born. Tom had come into the hospital with a huge, lavish bouquet of roses and a small card that had turned out to be a _gym membership_. Mere hours after the birth of their little girl, and all he was interested in was his wife getting her old figure back. And it hurt like crazy, but it hadn't hurt as much as thinking about it _now_ did – because it had seemed normal, of all things. She thought that any husband with an attractive wife would do the same; that it was a fact of life. But she just _knew_ that if Jill had a baby? It would be a completely different story.

Maybe that was why she was finding herself more and more drawn to the quiet, somewhat sullen blacksmith. She wanted to be near him – possibly because she knew she couldn't; she'd always wanted what she couldn't have – but it felt like more than that.

No man in her life had ever looked at her or spoken to her the way that Gray did. Without that predatory spark – without any interest in her that wasn't strictly friendship! A man who wanted to be her friend without asking for – or wanting – anything more. Her looks and her charm had no effect on him, and it was quite confronting for her to realise that this was probably the one thing that it wasn't possible for her to beat Jill at.

What could she say, really? No matter _how _Jill believed that Veronica had wronged her, Veronica herself knew different. She hadn't ruined Jill's life by taking Tom away – if she hadn't done what she did, Jill wouldn't have even _met _Gray. But now that she had met him, the blonde was going to have an amazing life.

It was possibly the first time that Veronica had felt truly jealous of her sister.

**xxx**

**Hmm hmm hmm :) Last update of 2008! I solemnly swear that next chapter will have more plot-type things, and more Mineral Town people as well as Jack and Ann XD.**

**I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope the New Year is just as good. Though it kind of creeps me out that I'll be in 2009 before everyone in America... O.O**

**Reviews will be the most lovely Christmas present you can give to me!**


	45. Chapter 45

**HAPPY 2009! :D how exciting! I, personally, am absolutely thrilled for a new year – except that Starting Over may finish this year, which I don't want to think about. *covers ears* La la la.**

**Honestly, there's... not all that much more to go, and it's quite depressing for me to think about D:**

**I'm listening to American Girls by the Counting Crows while writing the city parts, and for some reason, it helps. A lot. It's really weird, I know, but :) **

**It amuses me to see how many people think that Veronica being jealous of Jill is a good thing. Come on guys, common sense please XD. Lmao.**

**Aaaanyway, here's your 8500 word chapter. Don't get too excited; it's basically that long because I have unparalleled rambling superpowers. Or Ann does. I blame Ann.**

**Jean Cooper** – Naww. Coming up with Christmas themed metaphors for how much you hate Tom :DD but yes, I hate Tom too. As you know. He makes me want to go out and shoot baby squirrels DX

**Drottningu** – Aw, I think Jill maybe, FINALLY realized for good what a jerk Tom is. I don't think she'll be going back to him now, thank goodness – but you know, I always have a whole lot of other ways to make the poor little characters suffer :P thank you so much for reviewing!

**Depressed Elf** – I don't know why I find your penname so amusing xD. Ann is... hmm. Ann – I kind of got annoyed at her while I was writing the scenes in the city, just because she is THAT over the top. I adore the girl, really... but someone needs to slip her a sedative. And Veronica... I'll let you hold off judgment on her for a little while. Hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

**Ultra Drama Queen** – Ha, that's not the last we'll hear of Ann's precious hat. Yeah, Veronica's jealous of Jill – but remember, it's Veronica, and she probably won't let it stay that way O.o yeah, Tom's a rat. The nasty pudding skin on pudding pie, to quote Jean Cooper xD. And I'll definitely make sure that I send Jack and Jill up a hill at some point in the story, just for you :3 thanks for the review!

**alberne Maedchen** – Ahh, thank you for the lovely review present in such a pretty box :3 ! I love Gray too... to the point where it's slightly scary xD. Ann is hilarious at times, but I can't help feel sorry for Jack, stuck with her for a whole week. Lmao. And please, don't get me started on time differences in America, Australia, Britain... I just don't understand it at all, haha. I wish we could all just be the same time at the same day, it'd be a whole lot easier xD. Thanks so much, I really hope you like the chapter!

**DoubleKK** – You have an idea about the fight, huh? :3 shhhh! It's not super hard to guess, but maybe you'll be a little bit surprised... or a lot angry xD. More city adventures right here; I get the feeling that Ann won't make it through the week alive... not because of the stupid things she does in the city, but because of Jack. The poor guy's been given a rough time xD but at least they're only in there for the chapter after this one, then he gets a well deserved break from our darling Ann. Thanks for reviewing :P

**Random Jelly Beans** – Not a problem! :) haha, cheating is always guaranteed to make things more interesting. Whether or not anyone will actually cheat remains to be seen, but you're right... this isn't the end of it for Veronica. She's not the type to go, 'oh well, as long as they're happy.' She wants what she thinks she should have xD. Hope you had a brilliant Christmas and wonderful New Year, and thanks so much for continuing to be a faithful reviewer :3

**xTrueEmotion** – Aww, I see it now. Jill and Gray have a million adorable little redhaired and blonde babies, and then Veronica gets jealous because she only has one baby, so she KIDNAPS THEM ALL. xD. No baby for them just yet, but you never know what will happen in the epilogue. Hee. Thank you so much for the review, and let me know if you like this chapter!

**Alison Washington** – There's a whole lot of things Ann hasn't seen xD and I've never seen any mention of the city on any of the Mineral Town television channels, so I'll just assume that Ann hasn't either. Haha. I know, I can only imagine how much trouble Ann would have been in if Jack didn't go to the city with her. I'll get back to you on the siblings bashing up Tom and Veronica xD thanks for the review.

**AsianFlipGurl** – Aw, I hope you had a bunch of fun on your holiday! (unless you're not back yet; in that case, I hope you're STILL having a bunch of fun on your holiday!) and it's so lovely that you made the effort to review before you went, thank you so much :3 Ann can be incredibly childish at times, and that damn hat is going to make a fair few reappearances v.v haha. And yes, Tom should go throw himself off Mother's Hill or something. Thank youuu :D

**The Scarlet Sky **– OH, I've had that problem with my review box before. When you said you broke it, I thought you meant it came up with a little box instead with something like, "ERROR: YOU FAIL." Haha, but obviously that's my very very strange imagination. Man, if I had the time, do you know how much I would love to dedicate a chapter purely to shopping cart races? And because you're the only one who'll care even slightly, I had to go see Twilight AGAIN for my obsessive friend's birthday, and omfg. Jessica is such a legend – she's totally my favorite character in the whole damn thing, for real. She had me in hysterics almost as much as your friend's Bambi comment xD it was brilliant.

**RyanMan14** – Thanks so much. I still get kind of overwhelmed when I see 800 reviews, because first and foremost, I'm surprised people could even struggle their way through the first horrible chapters xD. Veronica is slowly getting a little bit more mature – just a little, though – and maybe we'll end up liking her by the end of this. Or maybe not, we'll see xD. Hope you keep reading and reviewing!

**BeautifulAuthor** – Yeah, last update of 2008! :P Happy 2009! Thank you so much for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Cryptic Love** – Okay, the Philippines was TOTALLY my next choice after Spain. Totally. Hey, I told you, I failed Geography... mostly because I was the only person in the class who genuinely never understood contour lines XD. Yeahhh, I love my Ipod so much :D and that phone sounds absolutely awesome, so I hope you ended up getting it! Actually, uh *shifty eyes* No... Jill doesn't have her ears pierced, but I'm pretty sure that Veronica might. Uh-oh. Ah... we'll just say that Ann never looked at Veronica's ears :P and yeah, I'm just about ready to kick Tom off the dock or something. That boy is getting on my nerves :3 and I can't believe you're twelve, girl! You seem so much older! Thanks for the most freakishly and enjoyably long review in the history of ever! Haha.

**DemonDude12** – LOL, I've written your penname so many times that now I type the letters 'Dem' and my word program automatically fills in your name. xD. So that update was your Christmas present, and this one is your... late New Year present, I guess. Whatever :3 and that's probably a good idea; never be the one to take a country girl into the city for the first time. And Veronica and Gray... I'll let you guess, huh? XD thanks so much for continuing to review after all this time!

**Quartet** – Wow, thanks for such a long review! I just write the characters as they write themselves... which doesn't make any sense. I mean, I don't need to _think _about what Jack or Ann or Jill would say; they carry the conversation along by themselves. Which makes me sound mental, but what I'm saying is, I can't really take credit for something that comes along so easily xD. Yah, Veronica... isn't exactly the loving sisterly type who would be particularly HAPPY for Jill if Jill ended up better off... and we can only hope that she doesn't try to step in somehow :P thank you so much.

**Olive the Reindeer** – Oh wow, thank you so much. It's kind of embarrassing that I've rambled on for so long that it takes someone three days to read it xD but thanks for spending so much time on my little (not literally) story. My reviewers are crazy amazing... some of them have barely missed five chapters in this whole massive thing. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas :)

**kingshine** – Aw, I'm glad you find them funny! Haha. Yeah, there's a lot more of Jack and Ann in this chapter, so here's your update!

**Ekoaleko** – Hahaha. You people need to stop giving me so many damn plot bunnies for Ann in the city! I've got to get her OUT of the city by next chapter, how the hell am I supposed to do that when I'm so tempted to write all these situations for her? And ohmygod, I'm going to kill you for telling me that story about the guy at the mall on the escalator. Dude, I'm _already _scared of them; what the heck are you trying to do? Lmfao. Thanks so much Eko :D :D

**Kaiser Einrich** – Man, that review deserved multiple re-readings in itself. I loved it, thanks so much xD. Veronica, Victoria, eh – we know who you mean. I'll just get most seriously annoyed if I start writing the name Victoria instead of Veronica when I'm writing the story :3 and I'll definitely let you know if I plan on having Jill, Gray and Veronica triple-team him. Definitely. You're a total, perverted man XD kiddddding. I need to take Jack's words to heart as well – I was a total hypocrite for writing that, because my Mom walked into my room earlier, and it looks like someone let off a clothes bomb. Like, I didn't even realise I OWNED that many clothes, but I must, because they're all on my floor :P "Chair him in the face, if you will." Epic. Lmao. And you're way too nice about my leetle story – just make sure you don't re-read until the rewritten chapters are up! :3 thanks so much, again, and I hope you like the ever so slightly filler-ish chapter.

**xPaparazzixChickx** – Naw, it's okay! I just love that you keep leaving such gorgeously funny reviews :3 so you can remain fashionably late, if you wish. Ann's... Ann's... gawd, I don't even know what to say about her anymore. By the end of this chapter, _**I**_wanted to push her down a large flight of stairs, and I love the girl. So... heh. I have a craving to go out and buy myself a polka-dotted hat, just for the heck of it. No no, Veronica was an expert campfire maker xD and OMFG. LOL. I didn't see how you could possibly twist the gym membership thing to make Tom seem like a good guy, but you did it, so congratulations. Hahaha. I didn't party... TOO hard. *shifty eyes* Well, I got the update done, so shh. Lmao. Happy new year!

**Katrina Tora** – Yeah, Ann's not done with her epic fear of moving houses yet. Not by a long shot. xD. It feels really weird to say 2009, actually, and I keep saying 2008... but meh. I wish you a hundred friendly flying monkeys! Thanks for the always lovely reviews :3

**Sunny Morning** - "And I don't want the world to see me... 'cause I don't think that they'd understand... when everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I aaaaam..." xD. Sorry, I love that song, and Iris looks like it'll promise to be a really gorgeous story – as long as you remember to update every once in a while :P and of course you can eat Tom, if you can find him. Sadly, he's nowhere to be seen in this chapter xD. Thank you!

**Hope you all had the most wonderfully amazing New Year and Christmas. Enjoy!**

**xxx**

"You'll have to stay relatively quiet – she gets whiny when she's just woken up and strangers will only make it worse," Linda whispered to Jack and Ann, one hand on the door to Kayla's nursery. A cheerful babbling sound could be heard from inside, and when Linda walked in, Ann and Jack saw a dark-haired toddler chatting in baby-speak to a blue teddy-bear.

"Hello little Miss," Jack's mother said, beaming at the little girl before lifting her out of her crib. "You had a nice sleep, yes? You're not going to be painful in front of Jackie and Annie, are you?"

"She called you Jackie," Ann murmured teasingly. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"She called you Annie," he pointed out, smirking as the grin dropped off Ann's face.

"Nannay," Kayla repeated, blinking at Linda for approval. "Nannay."

"Yes, that's Annie. And Jackie –"

"Jack, Mom," he pleaded. Crossing the room and ducking down to the little girl in his mother's arms, Jack poked her nose playfully. "Say Jack."

"Dack," Kayla bubbled, squirming towards him with her eyes squinted shut. "Dack dack dack. Nannay dack. Mum." She pointed at Linda as she said it. "Mum."

"Oh dear..." Linda said, letting Kayla play with her blonde hair. "She's started calling me her mom, and I'm... a little worried about how Veronica's going to take that. It doesn't mean anything, obviously – she's a smart girl and she knows who her real mom is – but at the same time... I can see how it would annoy Veronica."

"She's _so_ smart," Ann said, a bright smile on her face as she stared at the little girl. "Hi Kay!" She poked her tongue out, making Kayla squeal delightedly and clap her hands together. "You're smart like your Mommy, huh? Are _you_ going to have three hundred billion awards when you grow up?"

"Dup dup," Kayla said, which could have been either an attempt at repeating 'grow up', or, and rather more unlikely, a negative 'Nup nup'.

"Oh, she's gorgeous," Ann said, fawning over the child in a completely uncharacteristic way. Linda held the little girl out, and looking rather bewildered, the waitress took her. "Heya," she cooed, crinkling her nose at Kayla who immediately mimicked her. "You're so _cute_!"

"Jute," Kayla said proudly. "Jute."

"So," Linda called, walking out of the nursery and waiting for Jack, and Ann with Kayla, to catch up before she headed into the kitchen. "What do you kids have planned for tonight, huh?"

"I'll take her out to a club or somewhere," Jack shrugged. "We went shopping, so she has a bunch of new clothes and everything. We'll probably get back at one, two in the morning. It's eight now, Ann, are you right to be gone by nine?"

"Googly gurgly," Ann babbled, all her attention taken up by Kayla. "Isa mala rala?"

"Nannay dack," Kayla replied promptly, biting her nails with a bright smile.

"Can I leave Ann here when I go out?" Jack sighed, shaking his head. "How old is she? Three?"

"Kay's two years old come Spring 11th," Linda told him, taking some pots out of a cupboard above her and filling one with water.

Jack smirked and shook his head. "I was asking about Ann's age."

"Don't tease her, you," his mother scolded playfully. "She's an absolute darling. I honestly wish that you'd had more girlfriends like her growing up; you always seemed to be with the giggly airheads. Idiot beauty-queens with no minds of their own," she tacked on at the end, curling her lip. "A girl who stands up for herself is exactly what you need, young man. That's what you've always needed. Your father was exactly the same, only bothering with the girls who chased after _him_ – and then when he met me, he didn't know what hit him."

"Ann's not my girlfriend," Jack sighed. The waitress finally glanced up from Kayla, smirking slightly as she raised an eyebrow.

"Damn right I'm not," she scoffed, handing the toddler to Jack and skipping over to help Linda with the cooking. "I'm here looking for someone, anyway."

"Well, nightclubs aren't the best places to meet men," the middle-aged woman smiled, shaking her head at Ann. "Respectable men, at least. You want to find a nice boyfriend, you can come along with me to the market on Sunday. Art galleries, libraries, nice restaurants... those are the places to find good men."

"Oh no," Ann cut in hurriedly. "I'm... looking for someone in particular. This guy from Mineral Town, and, uh... he was going to ask me to marry him, but there was this whole huge misunderstanding, so now he's here and... so am I. He's... where was he staying, Jack?"

"A hostel," Jack shrugged, propping Kayla up on the bench in front of him. "That's all we know – and this town. I can't remember for the life of me, but do you know any hostels around here Mom?"

"There are two," Linda said instantly, handing a bowl of unpeeled potatoes over to Ann. "One's close to us, right in the city center and the other's even closer... over on the corner of King Street and Johnson Street. You know, same street as the Walsh family. And by the way, their girl Teagan's been calling here non-stop, asking why your mobile's turned off and wondering when you're going to call her back –"

"So _anyway_, Ann," Jack interrupted, "Cliff must be staying at one of those. I'll tell you what – tomorrow's the sixth, isn't it? We'll go in to the closer one then, and the day after, I guess I can take you back into the city. If you behave yourself tonight, that is."

"Ann's a party girl, is she?" Linda asked, winking at the redhead. "It's okay, hun. I'm a bit wild myself. When little Jack goes to bed, I'll take you out and we can party until the early hours, huh?"

"Yeah, Mom... remind me to put you in a nursing home the day you turn fifty – ah, I mean, the day you turn twenty-one," Jack corrected himself at the beginning of a scowl on his mother's face. "How old are you now? Eighteen, nineteen?"

"Thank you sweetie," she beamed, at the same time as Ann coughed loudly. She turned around and swatted playfully at the grinning waitress. "You two... go on, go and get ready for your night. I can finish cooking here. Jack, just set Kayla down in her chair – thanks. Now go, go."

"Wear the really nice light green top," Jack said thoughtfully as he and Ann left the kitchen and started heading up the stairs towards their rooms. "And the dark jeans, because I'm going to guess that you'd head straight back to Mineral Town before I could talk you into a skirt. And... crap, we didn't get you any shoes, did we?" He stared straight ahead in contemplation for a few moments, before smirking. "Actually... have you seen Veronica's shoe closet yet?"

"No..." Ann replied, a hint of fear in her voice. "Why?"

"Just go get dressed," he said, waving his hand as he disappeared into his own room. After quickly dressing in his good jeans and a black shirt with the top unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up, he ran one hand through his hair and walked out into the hallway to wait for Ann.

Thirty minutes later, he was still waiting.

"Ann?" he called impatiently, banging on the door. Her voice piped up weakly in reply, telling him to come in, and what he saw made him stop dead.

"What the _hell _have you been doing all this time?" he burst out, shaking his head incredulously. She was wearing the same clothes that she was wearing when she went into the room, and Jack's face was steadily reddening in impatience as she shrugged. "I _told_ you exactly what to wear!"

"I can't," she told him, her head ducked sorrowfully. "I want to wear my overalls."

"You want – to wear – ha," he choked out, his head close to exploding in frustration. "You're telling me that I went shopping with you today; bought you all those clothes – and you're not going to wear any of them?"

"I'll wear this," she offered graciously, holding up the infamous, hideous polka-dotted hat that she'd thrown a tantrum over.

"To hell you will," he snapped. "Ann, I... I don't want to lose my temper with you. Let's compromise... diplomacy is the answer, right? Not... breaking off your limbs one by one, even if that _is _the more appealing option. Just tell me what you want, then I'll tell you what I want."

"I want to wear my overalls."

"Okay. _I _want to walk into a club with a girl who looks like she belongs in the city, not on a farm. So... the only way I'm ever going to let you wear overalls is if you cut the legs of them into shorts and wear high heels. And you're too wimpy and unadventurous to do that, so I strongly suggest you put on the clothes I bought for you before I drag you straight back onto the ferry."

Ann had an eyebrow raised and both hands placed on her hips in outrage for some reason. She didn't keep Jack in suspense for too long. "Wimpy?" she asked in a low, kind of scary voice. "Get me a pair of scissors; we'll see who the wimp is."

**xxx**

"You know," Jack sighed as their taxi let them out on a city street, "It would have been a whole lot easier if you'd just worn what I asked you to." The redhead had been sulking for almost the whole taxi ride, because Jack had threatened to set her polka-dotted hat on fire if she brought it with her. Needless to say, she left it at home.

"I did," Ann smirked, gesturing to her mini-short overalls and low heels. Jack stared at her for a few moments, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You would dress kind of like a girl for once, _just _to annoy me?"

"It's all for you, Darling," she called back, staggering ahead of him in Veronica's shoes. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to a lovely bridge that overlooks the whole city, Ann," he began sweetly, catching her as she promptly stumbled. "I'm going to push you off it." Returning her death glare with one of his own, he caught her once more. "But seriously, thank you for leaving your hair out."

"It's getting in the way," she groaned, blowing a few strands of wavy red hair out of her eyes. "I keep tripping over."

"Yes, I'm sure you're tripping over because of your hair, _not_ because you're a clumsy idiot." He ducked away from her as she took a swing at him, only resulting in her nearly taking another nose-dive into the pavement. Jack came back to catch her again at the last second, and she begrudgingly thanked him. "Come on," he instructed, smirking, "We cross the road here, then the club is just a little further up. I came here with my friends constantly – we might even meet a few, and if they say anything to you, don't reply. Just nod and smile whenever anyone asks you anything –" he reached out to smack the button for the traffic lights, "– and act like you know what they're talking about, even if you have no clue." The light turned orange, then red, and Ann watched in disbelief as the 'moving houses' slowed, then came to a stop on either side of her and Jack.

"What are they waiting for?" she asked quietly, taking a few steps back. Jack reached out to grab her hand and pull her over the road, to no avail – she started screaming and wrenching herself away from him. "Are you trying to _kill _me?"

"Ann, they're just traffic lights," he said slowly. "Look – watch these people cross, see? The cars wait for them. You press that button, then the lights turn red, and the cars wait for you to walk over." The waitress peeked up for a moment, watching as the lights made a transition from red to green, and the cars started up again.

"So when the light is red, the moving houses stop," she asked, "And then the light turns green, and they start again?"

"Perfect. Exactly," Jack told her in a patronizing tone, pulling her to cross again. She immediately jumped back, making him groan. "_What_?"

"How am I supposed to know when the light turns green?" she whispered fearfully. "What if I'm in the middle of the road when it changes, and the houses start moving again, and they eat me?"

His blood pressure was probably getting dangerously high, Jack observed, as he grappled to find some form of sense in Ann's words. "Just... just cross with me and I promise it won't happen."

"... Okay," Ann eventually nodded as the cars stopped yet again. "Okay. Let's go –" she took one step towards the road, then squealed again and bailed in the other direction. "I-can't-I-can't-I-can't –"

Not even bothering to be surprised, the dark-haired boy quickly caught up to her, slipping his arms around her waist and hoisting her up over his shoulder before crossing the road, ignoring her punches and "LET ME DO-O-O-OWN" pleas, the honking of horns, and wolf-whistles emerging from every direction. When he reached the other side and set Ann upright, her face was an unnatural color and her eyes were wide with nothing short of total fear.

"That was the worst moment of my life," she told him seriously – and judging by the way she was shaking, it wasn't an exaggeration. "We could have been _killed_."

"Could have, but weren't," he grinned, past the point of trying to argue any logic into her and starting to take some sadistic amusement in her distress. "You want to cross back over?"

"No!" she insisted hysterically, shaking her head wildly to illustrate her point. "Never again – _never _again."

"Come on," Jack sighed, taking her trembling arm gently and leading her further up the road while she shot frequent glances back at the offending traffic lights. "Now remember," he said seriously, "Don't talk to anyone unless they speak to you first. Do _not _ask any idiotic questions – I don't care if you don't know what a certain drink is, or how they make the lights colorful – just don't ask. If people are going to assume that you and I are together, let them – I don't want any creeps trying to pick you up. And if someone makes a comment to you, or asks you a question... nod and smile. Just nod and smile."

"Nod and smile," Ann repeated, nodding and smiling. "I can do that." She walked a few more steps, bobbing her head like a demented chicken and grinning widely, looking more than a little scary.

"Tone it down," Jack instructed with a grimace. "A lot."

They came to an eventual stop outside the club, dance music booming out of it, and Jack had to grin at the familiarity. How many nights had he spent here before exams – getting back home and cramming his study in at three in the morning, of course – but he'd never got sick of this place. Even when he was finished with high school, his friends could still be regularly found here – and he wouldn't be at all surprised to run into some even now, after more than a year away from the city. In fact...

"Sean!" he exclaimed, shaking hands with the formidable looking bouncer outside the building. "How've you been?"

"Brilliant," the large man replied, showing his surprisingly white teeth in a wide smile. "Married Kathy a few months ago, and she's pregnant now. God, how long's it been, Jack? We haven't seen you around here for months – a year now, I'd say. Rumor has it that you ran off to Britain, right?"

"Not quite that far," Jack smirked with a quick shake of his head. "I'm still in America. But I'm back here for a week or so – and I had to visit this place while I was in town, you know?"

"Well, I see you haven't lost your touch," Sean laughed, gesturing to Ann. "Your lady's a bit of a looker. You got any I.D, sweetheart?" Ann's eyes widened and she shot a desperate glance at Jack, who was just rolling his eyes as Sean laughed again. "I'm kidding. Go on, you two have fun."

Ann started coughing the second they were in the door. It was reasonably crowded, very dark, and the large dancefloor was packed as full as it could be without people suffocating to death. A smoke machine was being used, and the redhead was hacking in a... not quite attractive way. Jack turned to face her, his face lit up. "Isn't it fantastic?"

"Fabulous," she choked with a forced smile. "Is there somewhere that I can... you know, breathe?" She'd barely finished her sentence when she heard high pitched squealing, and found herself unceremoniously shoved out of the way by a pair of blondes. She could only watch in horror as one of them kissed Jack on the lips enthusiastically, quickly succeeded by the other.

"Jack!" The slightly shorter one squealed, pressing a manicured hand to his cheek. "Ohmygod! I can't believe it!"

"Hey Cass, hey Lisa," he said with a sheepish grin, his sideward gaze warning Ann not to move an inch. "How are you, girls?"

"Don't you look _gorgeous_!" Lisa – the taller one – exclaimed, quickly kissing him again, her hands touching his hair, face and chest in a flurry. "Look at your tan! You know, I _heard _you'd gone to California –"

"Not California," he said, shaking his head and failing to notice as Ann pushed her way through the crowd in search for some fresh air. "Just a small town... I'm doing a lot of work in the sun, so –"

"I ran into your Mom at the supermarket a couple of days ago," Cassie interrupted, apparently forgetting the fact that Linda despised her very existence. "She is _such _a sweetheart. She told me that you were coming home, and I seriously _freaked out_. I haven't seen you in so damn _long_!"

"Apparently she told Cassie that you're taking over your Daddy's company," Lisa added with a hopeful smile. "That'd be so fantastic – and we should totally catch up once you come back, right? I remember you got really busy after our date last time, so you couldn't call, but I was thinking –"

"Where the hell did Ann go?" Jack cut in suddenly, his eyes searching the large room in a way that had both blondes pouting.

"The little redhaired chick?" Lisa offered, throwing a random wave to someone on the dancefloor, "She looked like she was dying or something. She kind of disappeared into the crowd. Anyway, you and I should totally – Jack? Where are you going?"

Ann had somehow made her way to the bar, and she exhaled slowly as she leaned against it – possibly the only place in the whole room where she could be standing at least a meter away from anyone else. Big crowds were _not _her favorite thing, she decided dryly, her eyes widening in disbelief as a girl strutted past in seven-inch stilettos. She was struggling enough in hers; probably less than two inches high. And it wasn't just shoes – these girls were _insane_; painting their eyes with thick black, brushing sparkles onto their faces – wearing sparkly, shiny crap on their lips? Sure, some girls in Mineral Town wore makeup, but this extent was beyond insane. Why any girl would put themselves through that was well beyond Ann's realm of thinking.

"You're not alone, honey?" A young-looking man with light brown hair and a friendly smile approached her, leaning against the same counter. "A girl like you shouldn't be alone in a place like this. You stay near me, huh?"

"I... have someone, to, um..." she began, her intuition – and shred of common sense – telling her that this was one situation where Jack wouldn't want her to use his trusty 'smile and nod' method. "I'm here with someone. He's around somewhere. Thanks."

"But he's not _here_," the guy pressed, tilting his head and giving her another smile. "I can't just leave you alone, can I? Let me buy you a drink while we're waiting to find him."

"Get the hell away from her," Jack snarled, not even looking at the man as he shoved him out of the way and wrapped a protective arm around Ann's waist. "I swear," he muttered to her, "If you run off on me again –"

"Jack?" The man was stumbling to get complete balance back on his feet, but he was grinning at the same time. "Jack Evans. Where have you been?"

"Steve!" Jack replied warmly after a brief pause, high-fiving the guy in such a corny way that even Ann cringed. "Man, it's good to see you. How's your girl? Are you still with her?"

"No," Steve scoffed in reply, going off into a long explanation that involved a whole lot of apparent 'misunderstandings' and a repeated point about how some girl had never trusted him. Both Ann and Jack eventually tuned out, but when Steve clapped him on the back, he quickly jolted back to attention. "So, sorry for hitting on your gorgeous girl," he finished with a wink, "But you can't blame a guy for wanting to move on." He glanced over his shoulder, pushing through the crowd a little before beckoning for Jack and Ann to follow him. "Every Wednesday," he called loudly over the music and general chatter, "A whole bunch of the guys from school hire out a function room in here to catch up. They're going to go mental when they see you – I don't know if he's told you, baby," he said, nodding to Ann with a smirk, "But your boyfriend was quite the ladies man in his school days – and afterwards, too. Prepare yourself."

"Shut up Steve," Jack muttered, his arm still firmly around Ann. "I wasn't that bad." Ann snorted, making him glare down at her. "I _wasn't_!"

"I believe you," Ann said sincerely, giving him a genuine smile. Looking slightly taken-aback, he returned it, until she added: "Then again, I believed that there was no such thing as moving houses, so –"

Making an exasperated sound, Jack pinched her childishly as Steve led them into a slightly less crowded corridor and up to a large door. "Who's here, exactly?" Jack asked cautiously before his friend could lead them in. Running one hand through his brown hair, Steve blinked up at the ceiling.

"Uh... there's about twenty-five who come on Wednesdays, but almost no-one comes every week. So... this week, I reckon there's about twelve or thirteen people – I can't remember exactly who, but it's probably a bunch of the guys who'll be thrilled to see ya... and a whole heap of girls bitching at you for never calling them back." Jack mumbled something threatening under his breath, while the other man grinned and pushed the door open into a significantly smaller room, with random, occupied couches and chairs from armchairs to barstools scattered around.

If Ann had thought that the screaming from Cassie and Lisa when they saw Jack was annoying, her head nearly imploded at the full-on squeals and yells when the crowd in the room recognized him. Once again, she found herself nearly breaking an ankle as she was knocked to the side by an avalanche of suffocating perfume, makeup, manicures and long hair. Though she grimaced and rubbed her arm where it had banged against the wall, it gave her an excuse to observe, with some humor, Jack's situation.

There were about seven other girls and four boys, excluding Jack and Steve, in the small room. Said seven were crowded around Jack, hugging and kissing him to an almost sickening extent – and none of them seemed to mind that all the other girls were doing exactly the same things. The four guys, excluding Steve, were all on their feet and grinning, but apparently had chosen to leave the enthusiastic kissing to the girls. Thankfully.

No single conversation was possible to follow, either. Squeals of 'Wow!' 'What are you doing here?' 'I missed you so much!' and 'You look _amazing_!' were being constantly echoed by a set of high-pitched voices, and Ann was feeling claustrophobic just _watching _Jack being swamped.

"Alright, come on now," Steve cut in suddenly, seeing that his friend was about to pass out through a lack of air. He took it upon himself to separate the crowd, physically lifting some girls and carrying them to various spots in the room – not without frequent winking and the occasional, "You okay there, baby?" Jack quickly, desperately beckoned for Ann to come back to him, instantly wrapping his right arm around her when she did so. His left arm was occupied by two girls holding on to him for dear life – one with dark brown hair; the other with platinum blonde hair though her roots were quite noticeably black.

"So, um, guys... this is Ann." The men in the room grinned at her – or leered, depending on how negative you want to be about it. Though judging by the looks on their faces, none of the girls were planning on inviting her on shopping trips and to sleepovers just yet. "Ann, that's Matty, Dan, Simmo and Rob." He inhaled slowly – here was the tricky part. "Um... that's Alice... Jess... Maddie, right? No, sorry, Lauren. Ah... and Kim." He turned to the pair that were still clinging to him. "Sharon, and... Carly..."

"Sophie," the fake blonde corrected in a patronizing voice, managing to be both friendly and threatening simply by saying her name. She reached out one hand and took Ann's, squeezing it a little harder than necessary. "I'm Jack's ex-girlfriend."

A brunette across the room coughed loudly, making Sophie – or Fake Blonde, as Ann had more affectionately dubbed her – shoot a murderous glance with both eyebrows raised. "_What_?"

"One date hardly makes you his girlfriend," the other girl challenged, both hands placed firmly on her hips. "I'm Jess," she told Ann matter-of-factly before Fake Blonde could interrupt, "And I dated him for like... a whole week." That comment set every girl in the room into uproar as they squabbled over exactly _who _had dated Jack the longest, making the man bring one hand up to his forehead in embarrassment and Ann smirk in delight at the new ammunition she had for teasing him.

"Did you date... all of them?" she asked in a whisper that could barely be heard among the squabbling. Jack ducked his head towards her, still not free of the brunette and darling Fake Blonde on his other arm.

"Ah... possibly," he frowned, his gaze traveling around the room of attractive young women. "I... can't remember exactly who, or when... but really, you can't even call it dating." He winced as a screaming match began between two of the girls. "I've got to get out of here."

"I'm telling Ma-ry," she responded in a sing-song voice. "That you have a bill-ion girlfriends." Jack's eyebrows flew up and his jaw set into a rigid line, not helped by a particularly loud screech from the other side of the room, most likely associated with hair-pulling.

"Are you really?" Jack asked. Ann nodded, sticking her tongue out. "You're not tempted to change your mind at all?" She shook her head in reply and Jack coughed, gleefully anticipating his payback as every girl in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to listen to him. "Uh... I think I forgot to mention that Ann is... my fiancé."

"What?" the redhaired waitress exploded in complete shock – but her protest was drowned out by the chorus of seven other indignant, horrified voices.

"Are you serious?" one particularly malicious dark-haired girl asked, her green eyes flashing as they quickly surveyed Ann in contempt. "What is she, a farmer? Check out the overalls." Some other girls looked pleased at her words; one or two frowned in disapproval.

"Shut your damn mouth Kim. Just because he dumped _your _sorry ass after two days," one brave blonde spoke up from the back of the room, receiving a grateful smile from Ann – who, incidentally, looked just about ready to pummel 'Kim' into the ground. Jack laughed awkwardly and tightened his hold around her, preventing any such violent action.

"It was so great catching up with you all," he said through gritted teeth, the majority of his attention focussed on keeping a squirming Ann from breaking free. "And I'll definitely make sure to see... some of you, before I leave again... but, uh," he muffled a groan as Ann elbowed him in the ribs, "Ann and I should probably get back to our hotel room," he finished, casually ignoring her as she dug her nails into his arm. The reactions of his fangir – uh, _friends_, were priceless – a few covered their mouths to muffle shrieks, but the majority simply glowered at the waitress murderously. "Come on, honey – see you guys soon."

"Bye, Jack!" a sickly-sweet ensemble of voices called after him as they left the room and struggled out of the club, into the winter air. He flinched instinctively as Ann shrugged out of his hold, then threw his hands over his face as she began the inevitable pummeling.

"Idiot son of a – are you trying to get me killed by your idiot bimbos? I'll show you a thing or two – you don't deserve to be _alive_ right now!"

"Calm down," Jack managed, trying to stop himself from breaking out in a hysterical round of laughter that wouldn't go over too well with the infuriated redhead. His words had little to no influence as Ann started off on a screaming rant, catching the attention of several people around the area.

"Excuse me," a burly security guard growled as he walked over to them. Jack's friend Sean was nowhere to be seen, and this guy looked relatively less friendly. "Miss," he said to Ann, "Is this man harassing you?"

There was no harm in taking the advice Jack himself had given her, Ann figured, as she nodded and smiled at the security guard – whose gaze immediately flickered to Jack instead.

"I do not tolerate violence against women, Sir," he snapped, approaching Jack ominously. "It's putting scum like you back in their place that makes this job so worthwhile."

"Look," Jack said awkwardly, grabbing Ann's arm and starting to back away with her in tow. "This is all a misunderstanding. Besides," he threw in, shooting Ann a glare, "She's hardly a woman."

"Let go of that woman, Sir."

"You know, I don't think I will."

The next thing he knew, he was on the ground and Ann was doubled over, laughing hysterically – or evilly, rather. In a half-daze he brought his hand up to his lip, blanching when he drew it away and saw it shining with a deep crimson liquid, courtesy of the man's incredibly solid punch.

"I don't choose to use physical violence on the job often," the security guard snarled, cracking his knuckles, "But I will not tolerate seeing good-for-nothing men like you degrading and abusing young ladies." His gaze turned back to Ann, sympathetic and worried. "You okay now, m'am?"

Wheezing and nearly doubled over in amusement, Ann once again followed Jack's advice, just nodding and smiling. "I can," she choked out, "Go with him, now... he won't... he won't hurt me; I'll just g-get him into a... a taxi –" she doubled over again; puzzled, the security guard nodded to her and walked away. With the occasional fit of giggles, Ann pulled Jack to his feet and winced when she saw what a mess he was.

"I'm not speaking to you," he said, trying to maintain some type of dignity – but with his face looking like something out of a horror movie, it was quickly slipping away from him regardless. Putting in an immense effort and managing to get her laughter somewhat under control, Ann tilted her head in concern.

"It's not so bad," she snorted. "It's just... a lot of blood." She grimaced. "A _lot _of blood. At least he only punched you once, though. And did you see how he stood up for me? He was a nice man. Although, I totally could have taken you on without his help." She kept rambling, and Jack shot her an incredulous scowl as he held one hand out for a taxi.

**xxx**

"Jack!" his mother scolded suddenly, walking into the kitchen where he was holding an icepack to his lip. "You've left blood all over the bathroom."

"Mmhm," he mumbled, his words slightly slurred. "Did you find the body yet?"

"Let me see that," she sighed, unamused by his 'witty' sarcasm. He tentatively lifted his hand and the icepack away from his face. "It's fine," she said with a wry smile. "He barely split your lip. To tell you the truth, I'm just disappointed that you didn't get a hit back in."

"Right Mom, I'm gonna get in a punch-on with a security guard," he scoffed. "Besides, it's Ann's fault." He glowered at the redhead sitting across the table from him; his mother looked in the same direction with two raised eyebrows.

"Is it really?" she asked, making Ann nod sheepishly. Linda's face cracked into a smile. "Good job, honey. That's my girl."

"Mom!" Jack protested, wincing as his lip started bleeding again. "Aren't you meant to be on my side?"

"Of course I'm on your side," she said patronizingly, handing him a few tissues to control the bleeding. "You want Mommy to go down and give that meanie a piece of her mind?"

"I'm going to bed," he snapped, pushing up from the table and walking out of the kitchen. Throwing Linda a worried glance, Ann got up and quickly followed. "Ann, why are you stalking me?" he exhaled.

"I actually am sorry," she told him. "I mean... that may well have been the damn most hilarious thing I've ever seen, but I'm sorry you got hurt."

"It didn't hurt," he shot back quickly. Ann rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, okay tough guy. But... don't be mad at me, because – well, look at this face. You can't be mad at this face." She stared at him, making her eyes as big as they could go to the point where it was really, truly creepy. "Besides... I should've punched you myself. Fiancé indeed – I'm just telling you now, never bring Mary into the city. Those psycho fake blonde killers will dispose of her _very _quickly."

"She'd handle herself better than you would," he said adamantly. "But... I didn't realize how different everything really was, until I brought you in. I'll say right now that I do _not _intend to put myself through this again with anyone."

"Yeah yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that bad. I think I'm being pretty cool and collected, actually." She promptly fell up the stairs, banging her shins. "Oww..."

"Come on," he mumbled, helping her to her feet. "Get some sleep. It's just past midnight, and I'm going to take a random guess and say that you're one of those annoying people who get hyperactive in the early hours of the morning. But first –" he grabbed her arm as she walked away, making her spin around just as he stepped forward. The result was her banging her nose into his chest and reeling away, eyes watering.

"What the _hell _Jack," she moaned. "What are you made out of, freaking concrete?"

"Yeah, mostly," he shrugged. "My mother was a burly construction worker and my father was a cement mixer. Don't make stupid comments." She continued to wail about her nose while Jack shrugged, unsympathetic. "You bust my lip, I break your nose. We're even."

"I'll rip your legs off," she snarled, lunging for him and missing by a thirty centimeter margin, even though Jack hadn't moved an inch. He sighed slowly, shaking his head before holding up one hand.

"I was going to say, truce Ann? No more hurting each-other for the rest of the week, huh?" She looked like she was going to argue for a second, before Jack continued. "And if you use the tiny ounce of logic that I think you might have hidden away somewhere... you're getting the better part of that deal."

It took her a little while, but she eventually nodded – though looking none too happy about it. "Fine. Night, Jack."

"Goodnight," he said, walking into his room and gaining the first real privacy he'd had all day. He loved Ann to pieces, he truly did – but she really was one of those people who were best in small doses.

He glanced around the room; so familiar and at the same time... slightly awkward to be in now that he was so used to his room at Mineral Town. He was tired, and definitely not in the best of moods, so he shuffled over to his suitcase and dug through it for his grey trackpants.

What his hands discovered wasn't a pair of trackpants, but something infinitely more interesting. Carrying Mary's novel over to his bed carefully, he arranged his pillows so that he could sit up, and opened the book over his legs, raising an eyebrow at the neat handwriting. Typically, he was barely finished with the first page when his door swung open.

"Jack," Ann said, "I need you to braid my ha – whatcha reading?"

"It's, uh... something from when I was at school. I'm just having a look at it again now. Come here, I'll do your hair for you."

She bounced over and sat cross-legged on his bed, her back facing him as he started separating her thick hair into sections. "So, what kind of school thing was – ow, crap!" She hastily withdrew the hand that had been reaching for the book, scowling as she instead pressed her hand against the back of her head. "What was that for?"

"Ann," Jack said calmly, "You know that truce we just made? The Goddess help you, if you touch that book the truce is void – and your head's going out that window without your body."

"Okay," she said meekly, bailing out of the room without even waiting for him to finish her hair. Deadly serious Jack was more than a little bit scary.

It was past four in the morning when a _very_ bleary-eyed Jack glanced up from the novel and at his clock, making his jaw drop slightly. Four hours reading the book – he was maybe halfway through, but the horrible thing was that he just _knew _he wouldn't get any sleep until he finished it. He'd lie down, toss and turn for a few minutes wondering what was going to happen next, then give up and pull the book out again.

It was a little girly, a little romantic – the kind of book that his Mom, Jill and Veronica loved – but it was _good_, and it was a little embarrassing when he admitted to himself just how much he was enjoying reading it. It wasn't a direct cut-out from Mary's life; very few things in it could have directly related to her – but one particular section at the end of a chapter caught his eye.

**It's funny when – just as you think that you've hit your absolute lowest – someone throws you a rope. You might not recognize their help at first; you might be too stubborn to admit that you **_**need **_**their help. But when they don't go away – when they **_**won't **_**go away... eventually, you find yourself wondering how on earth you ever got through the days without them.**

**It's a confronting moment when you realize that you've stopped keeping them around just because you need them... and started keeping them around because you want them.**

**xxx**

"Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you... happy birthday, Gray daaarling... happy birthday to you," Jill sang cheerfully as she kicked open the door to the blacksmith's room at six in the morning. He was looking quite comfortable in his bed and reluctantly opened one eye, groaning as he noticed the blonde standing in his doorway.

"It's not my birthday," he mumbled, closing both eyes again. "It's not my birthday until at least nine o'clock. Sleep."

"I brought you a cake," she said, choosing to ignore his vague mumbling, just as he chose to ignore her talking all together. "Come on, wake up. If _I_ have to suffer and get up at the crack of dawn on your birthday, _you _have to suffer and get up at the crack of dawn on your birthday. Look, cake!" She rather determinedly sat down on the end of his bed, and he very slowly sat up to glare at her. Glare at her without his shirt on, actually, which made it all worthwhile in Jill's eyes. "For the third or fourth time," Jill continued, "Cake! Yay!"

He visibly blanched as her words registered – even though the cake itself didn't look too deadly, Jill was... quite erratic in the kitchen. Salt instead of sugar, throwing in the whole lemon rather than bothering to squeeze out the lemon juice... etcetera. "Did you cook it?" he asked suspiciously.

Jill fought back a smile, trying to look offended. "Doug cooked it for me," she admitted. "He likes you too much to let my cooking kill you."

"Well, thank you for..." he frowned suddenly. She'd woken him up at six in the morning, then proceeded to tell him that he _would _have been poisoned had Doug not intervened. "Thank you for... remembering my birthday."

"You're welcome," she beamed, before her smile faltered and her face became rather nervous. "I... didn't exactly get you a _proper _present – I mean, you obviously get your age in birthday kisses... how old are you again?"

"Six hundred and eleven," he replied shortly.

She rolled her eyes, not feeling like that particular comment needed or deserved a response. "But, ah... this was more practical than any gift I could think of, so... here." Blushing, she threw him a small booklet of vouchers which he immediately caught, staring at it for a few moments before opening it slowly.

"Call Jill an idiot without getting in trouble," he read aloud, a small grin finding its way onto his face. "Get out of a small to medium sized argument with Jill for free."

"I couldn't think of anything useful to get you," she rushed, "So I... kind of thought, well, the one thing he needs is for me to shut up once in awhile. So I made you that."

"Jill will keep one secret no matter _what_," he continued, shaking his head in amusement. "This is brilliant."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you anything better," Jill was saying frantically. "I mean, maybe if I was in the city I'd be able to find something – but out here in Mineral Town, there was just... I mean, I got mail-order catalogs and searched through them, but I swear, you must be the most difficult person in the world to buy presents for."

"Will make Jill shut up instantly," Gray interrupted, staring at a certain voucher. He ripped it out of the booklet and handed it to the blonde. "Here, you can have this now." She took it and pressed one hand to her mouth, signifying that she'd stopped talking. "Listen – I love it, Jill. It's the best thing you could have got me and the Goddess knows it's exactly what I needed – so stop worrying."

Looking as if she would very dearly love to reply, and looking like she was already regretting giving Gray that book, Jill kept quiet while the blacksmith thumbed through the pages. "Aw," he said teasingly, stopping on one and ripping it out. "I love my birthday," he added, handing her the small piece of paper.

_**Good for one kiss at any time.**_

**xxx**

"I like the pink."

Elli crinkled her nose slightly, tilting her head at the material her friend was holding up. "The pink, Karen? Really?"

"Yes, _really_," Karen said, placing one hand on her hip. "It'll suit everyone, and it won't upstage the bride. Rick, agree with me."

"Yes dear," he mumbled, fiddling with a piece of paper on the table in front of them. Lillia was making Elli's wedding dress for her, so the nurse had come down to the Poultry Farm for fittings and 'consultations' with Karen. Of course, what that basically meant for Elli was sitting there while Karen went through materials and magazines, and meekly agreeing with everything she suggested. But Elli was proving surprisingly hard to order around, as Karen was quickly finding out.

"I want a pale blue," Elli shrugged, pointing to a light material at the edge of the table. "That would suit everyone better than the pink would – I mean, at least blue won't clash with Ann's hair. What do you think, Lillia?"

"I think the blue and pink are both lovely," she said softly, throwing her son a sympathetic glance from where she was sewing in the corner. "But maybe, Karen darling, the bride should get the final say. Hmm?"

"I was a bride once," Karen sulked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Trust me Elli, I know what I'm talking about. I'm experienced at this kind of thing."

"Well... how about we dress you and Popuri in pink, then... and Ann, Jill and Mary in blue?" Elli offered eventually. Karen frowned at her for a second, shaking her head.

"Elli, I'm not going to be a bridesmaid," she said, looking a little surprised. "I'm one of the married women now – not one of the single girls. My bridesmaid days are over."

"Y-you're not going to be a bridesmaid?" the nurse asked incredulously, her bottom lip quivering ever so slightly. "You're my – my best friend, Karen... we planned this since we were kids, right? Maid of honor at each-other's wedding? I mean, I got sick and couldn't be in yours, I know... but I still want you to be in mine –"

"Sorry, Elli," she shrugged, her green eyes avoiding eye contact with the hurt in her friend's brown pair. "You know I'd love to, but it doesn't feel right. I'm a married woman, I can't... have as much fun anymore."

"And that's your take on marriage?" Elli scoffed suddenly, making both Rick and Karen look up at her questioningly. "If that was what you were expecting... why did you two go through with it?" The two of them shot a quick glance at each-other, conveying the same answer – they simply didn't know. "When I get married to Tim, I don't want to think that anything will change for the _worse._ We'll be closer; we'll be bonded together – I hope we'll have kids, and... you know, be a _family_. Not... trapped, or whatever you're trying to tell me I'll be."

"Honey," Lillia reprimanded quietly, "Everyone has their different views. No-one's wrong or right about them – I think it's lovely that you have such a positive outlook."

"Yes, okay," the nurse said after a pause, a light blush settling over her cheeks. "Sorry, Karen, I... I guess I'm just... pre-wedding jitters. Sorry. I should – get back to the clinic –"

"You wouldn't walk me there, would you Elli?" Lillia asked with a gentle smile, pushing to her feet. "I feel like a walk would do me good, and there's no harm in seeing the kind Doctor." With a grateful smile, Elli hurried over to Lillia's side as she left – leaving Karen and Rick sitting on opposite sides of the table, both literally and metaphorically, awkwardly avoiding eye-contact with each-other.

"You don't feel trapped... do you?" Karen eventually mumbled, her face unusually pale and voice uncharacteristically quiet as she stared at the table cloth. Rick stared at her for a moment before returning his own gaze to the table.

"... No," he said unsurely. "Do – do you?"

"No," she insisted quickly. She glanced up to meet his eyes again; hers glistening with moisture. "And... w-we can have fun, right, Rick? We're not boring, we're... best friends. We can still do best friend stuff, can't we? We can be fun."

"Of course we can," he said gently. "We can do whatever... we can act like little kids again, if we want. I bet that now I could beat you at wrestling, for once."

That brought a half-smile to Karen's face at least. "Kids... do you want kids, Rick?" His face paled and she rushed on. "I don't mean... that we need kids _now_, but in a year... or two years..." she paused, as his face remained unreadable. "... Ever?"

"Ah –" he mumbled. "Maybe..." Trailing off, he looked at his wife's face properly for what was possibly the first time since they'd been married. She looked... _tired_. Not I-haven't-slept-in-days tired, but... as if she'd been working constantly for a very long time. And... she had been.

He hadn't bothered to notice the little things that she'd been doing, in an effort to make their marriage work. Maybe... Karen used to look at marriage like Elli did. A promise of happiness; children; a family. Maybe... the fact that _he _was unhappy had eventually made _her _unhappy. And... he'd said it all along – it was the reason he'd gone through with the wedding in the first place – Karen was his best friend, and he never wanted to hurt her.

Obviously, he'd managed to anyway. A happy marriage took the efforts of two people – and so far in this one, the immense efforts of just one person weren't proving to be enough.

"Yeah," he told her with a smile that was almost genuinely happy. "I want to have kids someday."

Maybe it would take a while before their marriage was on solid, steady ground. Maybe it would still take him years to completely get over Jill. But whether or not he'd_ let _himself move on was – and always had been – his choice alone, and he'd finally made it.

Maybe now, his healing process could finally begin.

**xxx**

**Naw :3**

**Let me know what you guys think!**


	46. Chapter 46

**I've been in the most idiotic mood while writing this. One of those – well, I can't say 'one of those' because I may be the only person in the world stupid enough to do it – but in a 'sounds like' mood while I'm typing. So if you see teach, it should probably be reach. If you see cat, it should probably be car. And so on, and so fork. Sorry, forth.**

**Okay; here's some news that might just make me cry. I sat down and drafted out a plan of the remaining chapters, and – *chokes* there's only twelve chapters left, then an epilogue. Give or take two. It may not be devastating for you guys, but this is my baby, so... *clings desperately* I REFUSE TO LET IT GO. NOOOOOOOO.**

**Good news! I actually got my tush in gear and finished the rewrite, from the beginning to chapter twenty. Then I just fixed up some scenes and grammar crimes... and rewrote the chapter that's Gray/Jill in the mine... and I'm reasonably happy :) But if anyone's going to bother to go back and read it, keep in mind that the very beginning... like, five or six chapters, were past help. I did all I could, and it wasn't enough. And then it gets better :D :D :D and a massive thank you to DoubleKK for taking on the job of reading the rewritten chapters in advance, and keeping me battling forward against my own laziness.**

**And OMG, I hate Australia. I have the most horrific sunburn imaginable. Unnaturally white skin plus countless hours on the beach in 117 degree heat equals painful, tomato-like agony. Seriously. And I swear to you, I'm like... meticulous about sun protection and skin cancer. I reapplied sunscreen every two hours and I had an awesome hat on when I wasn't swimming. But AHHHHHH. It hurts D:**

**SOSNoel – **Aw, it's okay! As long as you keep coming back occasionally to let me know you're still reading, that's fine too. Are you serious, that they're signing a petition to marry characters? ... okay, Gray and Kai and Jack are cute, but I don't think I'd go quite that far xD. No, I haven't killed Tom yet. I'm sorry to say I won't be killing Tom at all D: but maybe we won't be nice to him, yes? Ahaha, I'm on school holidays at the moment! That, and Gray's in the year level above me... it could be awkward if I went up and asked for a random picture xD. Yes, we're finishing in a few months. Noooooooo...

**Starlight Amethyst –** Thank you very much for reviewing! Here's the chapter, hope you enjoy it!

**Katrina Tora – **Haha, Ann isn't easy to order around... and she's prone to doing things before thinking them through. Which isn't so good for Jack, but very, very funny for the rest of us. So thank you again – I'm really happy to hear that you're continuing to like my little story, and I'll be following up with Rick and Karen *nod*. Thanks again!

**Starwings1 – **Two words... thank you! Haha, just knowing that people are reading and enjoying means a world of difference to me. I really appreciate it.

**Ekoaleko – **Aw, don't worry, I don't have the censor on for my reviews xD either people flame me, and I'd like to know exactly what they're calling me... or Eko is swearing randomly 'cause she's just that awesome :P Ha! God, I think anyone with guy friends lives in dread of that damn chest-hitting high five thing. Ugh. You _know_ they'll find Cliff soon... as if I would let them come all the way to the city for nothing! XD and thank you very much for your dictionary definitions of hostel. Lmfao.

**Ultra Drama Queen – **Hee, quick reviews are still nice! :D :D :D hope you got to hockey on time. I'm glad you liked Ann and Jack's city adventures, and Jill's present to Gray (honestly, it was just SUCH a Jill present) and don't worry, I won't randomly abandon Rick and Karen. We'll for sure see what happens to them. Hope you're having a great 2009!

**DoubleKK –** LOL. Well, once it gets to 25 chapters and above, it gets a little hard to keep track of what chapter such and such story is on. So with 40 plus chapters, I think you're doing pretty well to only be two chapters off :3 and I know – you'd think that after the time he'd already spent to her, some sort of alarm would have gone off in Jack's mind to NOT take Ann anywhere near a nightclub. But no. Aw, the idea of the vouchers came into my head.. and I liked it because damnit, it's Jill. And Jill gives presents like that xD. I'm glad you liked the RickxKaren moment, and I promise you that both of them will get closure – I don't intend to finish this story with any doubts. Hopefully. Thanks for reviewing girl :P

**AsianFlipGurl – **I know! Player much, Jack? Hehe, I'm sorry if this story stops you from doing your homework at all... I know what that's like xD. Unlike you, I don't have the patience to do my homework first... so... waaah. Hey, of course they're going to meet Cliff again! I'd like to think that my obsession with happy endings would point out THAT much to you. Lmao. Thank you very very very very very much!

**DemonDude12 – **Ah, you don't have to wait too long for the Cliff searching *hint nudge hint nudge* And lol, I don't blame you at all for forgetting Tim had proposed. I didn't exactly elaborate on it all that much :P but yes, another wedding to look forward to. ... ... ... or dread ;) you're welcome for the quick update, and this one... not my fastest, but at least it was about two weeks. Haha. Thanks for reviewing!

**Kaiser Einrich – **Cheese coffee. Interesting xD. I'm afraid it doesn't only finish this YEAR, but in a matter of MONTHS! *cue HmGirly throwing a tantrum* it makes me sad to think about. Perhaps I shall slow down updates to stretch it out even longer xD but the goodish news is, we don't have too many chapters with great amounts of fillerificishness. Well... actually, the chapter after this has a slight air of fillerificishness. BUT. The chapter after THAT will have a massively NOT fillerific plot point... so yay! Bah. The more I think about this stupid thing finishing, the more depressed I get xD. So I am immensely happy that you liked the chapter despite its fillerificishness, aaaaand... I hope you like this one too. Get some more chili or cheese coffee, huh?

**Random Jelly Beans – **Noooo, 'naw' as in the aw sound that some weird people make. Like... Dawww. Nawww. Awwww. Etcetera xD Hee! Did I really describe you? Except I don't think you would have been quite so mean to little Ann :P ahaha, Jill is a cutie when she's not being an idiotic twit. Ayy! You people have no faith in my sappy romance! Of COURSE Cliff isn't gone, fool xD. So, ah... if you do take a long break from writing fanfics, I will break your legs so you can't do anything but sit in front of the computer. You see? :3

**xTrueEmotion – **Thanks so much! This chapter is mostly Jack and Ann city stuff... again... but I promise the next chapter will be another one with a whole bunch of other characters. There's Rick and Karen, Elli, Tim, Popuri... it'll be fun :3 and I'm really happy that you're finding it funny. Thanks to you, I sat down and worked out how many chapters there are left :) and the answer, above, is about twelve and then an epilogue. *sad*

**The Scarlet Sky – **Aww, yay! Save up for a laptop, girl. And like... wireless internet XD. Then again... my family's main computer crashed a little while ago, and my laptop suddenly became very very popular among my family members. *sigh* See, Ann... I love her a lot in this chapter, because she's just so damn Annish. She writes herself, I swear to you. And the humans in Twilight were my favorite bit, fo' sho. (L) while I adored Mike and Tyler and Eric and the rest... Jacob and Jessica just stole my heart xD. OMFG. JacobxJess would have been a million times better than the stupid end pairing. Ahhhhh. Thanks for reviewing :) :) :)

**Quartet – **Aww, I'm glad you liked Kayla. I kind of... I don't know, that was the only way I could imagine writing that little girl, even though with parents like hers, a little psycho bitch would not have been left-field at all. I'm going to skim over your comment about Cliff, because it runs the risk of giving me nightmares xD. Thanks so much for the gorgeous review, and I hope you keep reading.

**BeautifulAuthor –** Haha, aww. Poor Rick – I think he's getting over her slowly, in his own time. Thanks for reviewing!

**Cryptic Love – **Oh wow, yay for you! Your sidekick sounds wicked awesome :P and yeah, you do seem more like 14 than 12. I don't think I could even spell properly when I was 12 years old xD. 50 isn't old at all, ESPECIALLY for being a grandparent. I'm fifteen and my mom is over 50 already... although she did have me a lot later than Jack's mom had him xD. Haha, yeah, Ann likes her overalls a little TOO much. Thanks a bunch, and I hope you like this chapter!

**xPaparazzixChickx – **Of course you have special privileges. As far as I know, you're the only one that can even _tolerate _Tom, let alone like him. xD. You have to wonder, if Jack had thought it through beforehand, would he have put himself through bringing Ann to the city... or just like... let her go and fend for herself. Lmao. Muahaha, I'm making you love Jaaaary, I'm making you love Jaaaary. Ah... she needs him. That's what I find cute about their relationship... that she kind of needs him even though she'd never admit that she needs anyone xD. I love those two together. I think coupons for my birthday would be a lot more helpful than like, candles and flowers and stuff. Ha. And Elli's wedding is going to be... fun... though I'm not really sure if that's the right word. Interesting, maybe.

**jed – **ahaha... okay, cool. Karen's not a super main character in this, but whatever floats your boat XD.

**melii101 – **Don't worry about it! I hope you had heaps of fun overseas – I'm super jealous of you xD I want to go somewhere. I was supposed to be hitting America in March, but that fell through, and now... looks like a boring year at school for me. I had a fantastic Christmas and New Year, thanks, and I hope you had the same. I'm glad that you liked everything in the last two chapters, and I hope that you like everything in this one too! xD.

**ZombieDragon –** Ah, it's okay xD you'd have to be some kind of miracle to review every chapter of this massively massive thing. Ann in the city is very entertaining to write, so I'm glad it's fun to read as well... and I'll definitely keep updating, so I hope you keep reading!

**xxx**

"Can I come in, honey?" Jack's mother called from outside his room, at around nine o'clock on the sixth of Winter. Jack groaned and forced himself not to chop her head off – after all, it wasn't his mother's fault that he'd stayed up until seven that morning reading Mary's novel. It was Mary's fault, and he couldn't chop _her _head off until he got back home.

"Go for it," he mumbled, his eyes still closed. He was vaguely aware of his mother opening the door and walking in, then sitting beside him on his bed and pushing his hair back.

"How's my baby boy this morning?" she asked, letting her hand trail down his face. "Oh, your lip looks much better today. You can hardly notice the cut, now."

"Cool." He begrudgingly sat up, noticing with some annoyance that his mouth felt slightly numb. "Um... what's up?"

His mother suddenly looked nervous, glancing to the side and at her hands shiftily. "It's just... now, don't get defensive with me, okay? I was just wondering... if you might _consider _getting together with Ann in the near future." Jack opened his mouth furiously, but his mom rushed on. "Look, I know you've said that the two of you are just friends – but you don't have many – any, really – girls who are just friends. You never keep them around long enough... you get so bored. And I'm just thinking that because of that, you and Ann could be a really wonderful couple."

"I can't," he said simply.

"I know it's scary, honey – I mean, you probably haven't ever felt this way before – an emotional connection, if that's how you want to describe it. But –"

"You want to know the truth, Mom?" he snapped suddenly, shaking his head. "There's... a girl back home. And I really, _really_ like her. Since I met her... I haven't been able to look at any other girl the same way. _That's _why I'm just good friends with Ann – because there's no way I could make myself see her as anything more."

Linda was just gaping at him incredulously, as if she wasn't believing one bit of what he'd told her. "You... you mean, you're being completely faithful to this girl? You're not seeing _anyone _else as well? ... For how long?"

"I'm not even seeing _her_, exactly," Jack sighed, leaning back to rest against the headboard. "I don't even need to, because... I'm just... only interested in her. God, she's smart... _so _smart... and she's gorgeous, and the most brilliant writer – but it's none of those things. I don't know what it is about her... which gets kind of frustrating at times – and then, it makes her more damn mysterious and I _love _that. I can't... ugh. Something just... clicked, Mom. We _work_."

"I've got to meet this girl," his mother beamed. "Even if I don't think I'll ever like any of your girlfriends as much as I like Ann – she must be something pretty special to get this kind of reaction from _you_."

"She is special," he said seriously, meeting his mom's gaze. "I didn't realize that girls like her even existed." A blush rose up in his cheeks as he contemplated his next question. "Mom, do... you believe in soulmates?"

That, more than anything before it, grabbed his mother's attention. "My God, honey," she breathed. "You're falling in love with her, aren't you?"

He shifted his upright position slightly, a half-smile creeping onto his face. "Yeah. I think I am."

"I never thought I'd see the day," Linda said softly, an almost sad smile on her face. "I thought... well, I thought you were going to be a chronic bachelor, to tell you the truth. And now... what, Jack the family man?" He scowled at her as she laughed. "That town must be doing wonders. How do Veronica and Tom seem to you?"

"I don't want to talk about him," Jack snarled. "I _hate _that man, and I swear, that's not an exaggeration in the slightest. I've contemplated murder. Veronica needs to divorce his sorry ass and –"

"Calm down," his mother reprimanded. "Watch your language." She stared at a poster on the wall for a few moments, an absent-minded smile on her face. "To tell you the truth... I don't like him either. I didn't like him when he was dating Jill... I didn't like him when he was dating Veronica. I didn't even want them to get married – but she just seemed so happy; how could I ruin that?" She pursed her lips in distaste. "Your father liked him, though. The little sneak sucked up to him like you wouldn't believe – _always _laughed at his jokes – and you and I both know that your father was never funny in the slightest, God rest him."

"We should have talked to Veronica about it," Jack exhaled. "Before the wedding, I could've... I don't know, done _something_. She's my baby sister, and he's –"

"I know," Linda said quickly. "But she's got to work that out for herself – and she will, you know. She's so bright – I'm surprised she's gone through with it for this long." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "And... Jill. Is she... okay?"

"She's difficult. We... don't see eye-to-eye, all the time. But..." he hesitated. "She's happy, if that's what you mean. I don't think Tom and Veronica bother her... _too _much. I think she still can't stand talking to Veronica – though she seems to have no problem talking to McSleaze –"

"Jack."

"But she's doing better," he sighed. "A lot better. She was really heartbroken at first, you know – more than any of us realized she would be. But now... she's in love, I guess. There's this guy who's just... brilliant to her, and he adores her. They had a bit of a drama for awhile – she was being stupid and hung up on Tom – but now they seem to be doing really well. It's nice to see her like that."

"I'm glad to hear it," his mother smiled. "I'm glad to hear that my babies seem to be happy. But... Jack, there's something else I need to talk to you about – and it may be a little sensitive."

Grimacing and knowing full well where she was going, Jack nodded. "Go on."

"Your daddy's company, kiddo. I don't want to pressure you into anything, especially with this new girl of yours... but it would have meant so much to him to see his boy take over. It would mean a lot to me, too."

"Mom, you know that's not true," he groaned. "He wouldn't have updated his will since I left you guys, and I _know _that he was angry when I left. You know, he..." he closed his eyes, massaging his temple lightly. "He was probably... still mad at me. When he... died."

"Oh God – darling, tell me you don't really think that," Linda begged, looking absolutely horrified as she placed one hand on her son's face. "No, he wasn't mad at you! He was _happy _that you were looking after your little sister, Jack! Please tell me you haven't been dealing with that guilt all this time – it's not true, baby. I swear to you, it isn't. If you need proof... he changed his will after Tom and Veronica had married and you had left, so that if you refused to take it, it would be signed into Tom's name – as the male in that relationship – and then he moved Jill behind the two of them, in terms of priority. You know your father was always a little sexist when it came to things like that... but the point is, he kept you there for a reason. He wanted _you _to take it specifically."

"Are you sure?" Jack replied, his expression completely blank while his head was racing. It just... hearing his mom actually say it made it so much harder to turn it down. "But Mom, I'm... I mean, I want to take it for Dad, I do... and heaven help me, I don't want it to go to Tom –" He squinted his eyes closed for a moment. "But I'm... really happy in Mineral Town, and no matter how much I'm enjoying being back here... there's a lot to keep me there, as well."

"I know," she said sympathetically, standing up and kissing the top of his head. "But honey... you know you only have a season left to make a decision before they automatically give it to Tom and Veronica. Take your time – but not too much time."

**xxx**

By five o'clock that evening, he and Ann had both been to and left the hostel on King and Johnson, with no sign of Cliff whatsoever. The unfriendly, elderly woman at the reception desk had simply glared at them when they asked for him, smacking on sugarfree gum in a way that had her bright pink lipstick coming off in patches. Eventually, Jack was forced to turn on the charm – his self-loathing reaching a new level in the process – and she reluctantly tapped Cliff's name into the computer, coming up with absolutely nothing.

To make matters worse, as they walked out of the hostel, one of Jack's ex-girlfriends approached them with a giggling friend by her side.

"Oh no, you're not staying in the hostel, are you?" she'd asked in concern, taking care to touch Jack's arm in sympathy. "You don't have to do that – we've got a spare room at my house." Her gaze had traveled to Ann, and she grimaced in distaste. "But, uh... your friend will probably still have to stay here. I don't think my parents would want someone like her in the house."

At this point, Ann – tired, hungry, and beyond disappointed at finding no sign of Cliff – finally snapped, flying into a rage where she pronounced to the poor girl that she was sick of, quote, "rude bitches" like her – following up with a whole range of more colorful words, forcing Jack to drag her away before she actually started hitting the girl. Needless to say, the taxi ride home was a relatively quiet one.

"Try not to beat up my friends," Jack said eventually, glancing at the waitress who had her feet up on the seat, her knees to her chin, and her arms wrapped around her legs. "It's not so good for your reputation, either."

"She wasn't your friend," Ann replied instantly. "She was a bimbo with a one track mind who doesn't know plain decency to strangers."

"Well, at least you gave her a good example of it," Jack muttered back, running one hand through his hair and watching the streets fly past outside his window. He glanced over again, frowning to himself – he would have said that she was close to tears, if it wasn't Ann that he was talking about. "Look, what's _really _wrong? Because I know you, and I know you're too damn thick skinned to let a comment like that get you this upset."

"It's nothing," the redhead snapped. Jack silently counted to five in his head, and right on cue, she started speaking again. "I mean... it just feels like I'm getting nowhere with finding Cliff – and this week is seriously all I have before he moves on to who knows where."

"Cliff," the driver said suddenly from the front seat in a strong English accent, making both passengers jump. "Strange name – I didn't think I'd hear it again so soon. I brought a young man into the city just a couple days ago and that was the name he gave me, too."

"What was he like?" Jack asked quickly, not wanting Ann to get her hopes up if it turned out to be a mere coincidence. Drumming on the steering wheel with his fingertips, the driver shrugged.

"Buggered if I know. He wouldn't talk. The poor sod looked absolutely miserable, mind you... just one of those people that look like the whole world is against them – I couldn't help feeling kind of sorry for him." He seemed to be enjoying having some willing listeners as he rambled on. "The name Cliff was all I got out of him. Asked him what was wrong, he said he didn't want to talk about it. Asked him what brought him to this city, he wouldn't even answer me. You can tell the ones that have seen some tragedy, I think."

"_Stop the car_," Ann said melodramatically, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her car door while they were still in motion. Jack lunged for her, slamming her door shut and redoing her seatbelt. "Are you even listening, Jack?" she asked, looking incredulous that he'd stopped her 'heroic' attempt. "It's him!"

"Where did you take him?" Jack asked calmly, making sure to keep his eye on Ann. The driver looked a little shaken at the almost suicidal attempt that had just occurred in his back seat.

"I, ah... took him to the Wilson-Brander hostel in the city center," the driver said slowly. "You want me to take you there now?"

"Yes!" Ann replied, at exactly the same time as Jack refused the offer. She looked at him as if he'd followed through with his threats and taken a match to her polka-dotted hat. "Why the hell not?"

"You're exhausted," Jack said simply. "Tonight, you sleep for like... fifteen hours. Tomorrow, we go find Cliff. The last thing he needs is to have you randomly pounce on him in the middle of the city, hysterical and impossible to understand because you're tired."

"But – what if he goes somewhere? How do you expect me to sleep, knowing where he is?"

"Keep going to the address I gave you," Jack told the driver, turning to Ann. "I _promise_, we'll go in before lunch tomorrow – just like we planned to."

"You are so _mean_," she hissed. "How can you – what if I die of anxiety before tomorrow? What would you tell Cliff then, huh?"

"I'd tell him to thank the Goddess, he's saved."

Letting out an indignant 'hmph' sound, Ann returned to staring out the window. "Jack?" she asked quietly, making him look at her obligingly. "How long until tomorrow?"

"About eighteen hours until we can go find him," he said after a pause. Ann nodded and turned away again, staying silent for about ten seconds before speaking again.

"Jack?"

"What?"

"How long is it now?"

"..." He shot her a glare. "About eighteen hours."

"Aw man," she groaned. "_Still_?"

"_Yes_." The cab pulled into another wealthy street, racing past properties with perfectly cut lawns and beautiful houses. This entire side of town really was gorgeous – even the hostel that they'd visited had been relatively classy, and it was very rare to see really rough people staying there. The Wilson-Brander, on the other hand, was cheaper and somewhat less... safe. Some real weirdos hung around there – and maybe Cliff could hold his own, if it came to it. Still... the sooner Ann got in contact with him, the better.

"Hey Jack?" Ann said quietly, snapping him back to the present. He smiled at her expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"How long now?"

**xxx**

"We're in the ciiity, we're gonna fiiind him, stop trying to hiiit me, we're in the ciiity –"

Jack stared up at the sky, his breathing labored through clenched teeth. "Grant me the patience to get through the next ten minutes without pulling all her teeth out," he begged, loudly enough to make Ann's singing drop in volume. Not enough, however, and Jack had to continue reminding himself that he was surrounded by witnesses in order to keep his fist from intimately meeting Ann's nose.

To make the whole experience of guiding an over-excited waitress through busy streets more enjoyable and interactive, he was lost. Not lost to a stick-Ann-in-the-city-center-with-a-map-and-watch-in-amusement extent, but lost enough to have an increasingly vague idea of exactly _where _the hostel was. It had definitely moved in the year since he'd left. Definitely. After all, there was no way that _Jack _could ever lose his way. This was _his _city! He'd grown up here!

"It's called Wilson-Brander, right?" Ann asked, her gaze elsewhere. Jack scowled, not paying much attention to her.

"Yes, and if you don't mind, I'm trying to find it."

"Well it says –"

"Ann, shut up."

"But there's a –"

"Ann, shut up."

"I can see –"

"Ann, I will _strangle_ you!"

"THERE IS A SIGN," she bellowed impatiently, yanking on his earlobe. "_Right there_, there's a sign pointing to the Wilson-Brander hostel, and I believe that might be a hint. And if you ever threaten me again, so help me, I will turn that threat around and carry it out on _you_."

"Yes M'am," he said, looking a little frightened of her. With her blue eyes narrowed and flaming hair falling out of her braid, she looked... intimidating, he was ashamed to admit. There went his masculinity. "Ah... yeah, we can... we can do it your way, I guess. Follow the signpost." He folded his arms over his chest, sulking as he followed her. "_Be_ unadventurous. _Follow_ the signpost. I would've got us there faster."

"You mean faster than the two hours we've been wandering around for?" she asked dryly, looking surprisingly confident as she maneuvered her way around people and through streets. Confident, that is, until she came to a very sudden stop and her face fell dramatically.

"What was that, Ann?" he asked, smirking as he leaned casually against the button for the traffic lights. "You're okay to cross here, right?"

"We can find a way around the traffic lights," she said urgently. "If I... y'know, walk... up the sidewalk a couple of miles, maybe the road will stop and I can sort of... walk around to the other side without meeting any moving houses."

"Come on," Jack instructed, shaking his head as the lights turned red and the cars stopped. "Just cross."

"Yeah," Ann nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I can do this." Shoulders squared and head held high, she took one step in the direction of the crossing, then about fifty much quicker steps in the other direction. Jack smacked his palm to his forehead as she gracelessly battled her way through the crowds of people, elbowing some of the slower ones frantically in her effort to get away from the traffic lights.

"Ann," Jack called impatiently, eventually lunging for her and pinning her to the sidewalk. He wrinkled his nose, not wanting to imagine what sort of things had been on it – but at least thinking about that distracted him from the horrified looking people around them as they watched him in a – well, compromising position on top of the waitress. "Get up," he groaned, climbing to his feet and holding one hand out to her. Before she could even regain complete balance on her own feet, she was off them again, swept up in Jack's arms bridal-style as he marched her towards the crossing. "I hope you don't make this a habit – me carrying you over these things."

"Please, Jack, don't," she begged desperately, squirming violently and making it very difficult to carry her. "Don't take me across those things, it's – I don't need to find Cliff _today –_ why don't we come back at three, four in the morning? There'll be less moving houses then, right? Goddess, Jack, don't make me cross!" She started screaming as he took the first step out onto the road, then muffled exaggerated sobs into his shoulder until he stopped on the other side and put her down. She promptly collapsed to the ground; random strangers offered to help her to her feet as Jack stood back and rolled his eyes.

"You feeling better now?" Jack asked twenty minutes later, watching in amusement as Ann licked a strawberry ice-cream with gusto and waved enthusiastically at the street vendor who had sold it to her. She shrugged at him, a dot of pink somehow ending up right on the tip of her nose.

"Kind of," she mumbled, snapping at Jack's hand as he brushed the pink smudge away. "Sorry," she shrugged at his incredulous glare. "I thought you were trying to steal my ice-cream. Anyway, I... yeah. I feel okay, but man, those lights freak me out. I mean... I know the moving houses are –"

"Ann, it was cute for the first day. Can you try calling them cars now?"

"I know the _cars_," she emphasized, rolling her eyes, "Are supposed to stop when you press the button, but what if you got one real sick, twisted psycho who came straight through them deliberately and ran over you?"

"... You have a strange mind," he said eventually, before pausing and reaching out to grab the collar of Ann's shirt as a restraint. "Now, don't freak out –"

"Ohmygoddesswe'rehere," she blurted out, her eyes widening at the sight of the clearly marked Wilson-Brander hostel in front of them. She took a step towards the place, then hesitated and wolfed down the rest of her ice-cream before going any further. Jack didn't even bother asking.

"Can we be calm?" he asked patronizingly, petting her on the head as he took her trembling hand and led her towards the building. Ann nodded meekly, behaving herself surprisingly well as Jack led her through the doors and up to the receptionist.

"TELL ME WHERE HE IS," the redhead exploded suddenly, making Jack clap one hand over Ann's mouth and the young blonde receptionist – wearing a badge that said **Michelle, in training **– jump up in a panic.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Miss?" she stuttered, her braces making her mouth sound too crowded when she spoke. "W-where who is?"

"We're looking for someone," Jack said, shooting her a smile that made her even more flustered, if anything. He gave her Cliff's name, and she looked puzzled.

"I know him, but he's... I think..."

"WHERE'S CLIFF?" Ann yelled dramatically, looking just about ready to drop to her knees and scream to the heavens. A rough-looking, heavily scarred backpacker at the front door glanced over and called out to her.

"If Cliff's the one who's quiet to the point where it could actually be an illness, then he jus' walked out ten minutes ago. Getting lunch or something, I dunno."

"I could kiss you," Ann said, beaming at the man until he raised an eyebrow and winked at her, displaying several missing teeth. "But I... won't."

"No you won't," Jack mumbled, nudging her in the back to make her move towards the door. "Sorry about her," he mouthed to the entire room before hurrying out behind her. She looked around the city with bright eyes, then clapped her hands together.

"Right! Let's go Cliff hunting!" Her smile dimmed slightly as she glanced around, registering the thousands of people. "... Where do _you _think we should start, wise one?"

"I have no idea," he confessed. "Maybe we should just... hang around here until he comes back. At least we won't miss him, that way –"

"That's boring," Ann scoffed, leveling Jack with a glare. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure? You know this city... let's go searching. We can always come back here if we don't see him, right?"

"Whatever," he shrugged. "It's your choice." Not even bothering to ask, or pay attention to her indignant squealing, he picked her up and carried her over the traffic lights again. After waiting another ten minutes for her to calm down, they actually started looking.

"There he is!"

"Ann, that's a girl. And she's blonde," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, can we –"

"There he is!"

Jack followed her desperate pointing to an older man covered in tattoos. He raised an eyebrow at her, letting her come to her own disappointed conclusion. "Well... I'm never going to find him. There must be a billion people here."

"A few thousand, but... look, we'll go get lunch and keep our eyes open for him. Then afterwards, we can look around the city a little bit... and if we don't see him, we can just go back to the hostel. That sound alright to you?"

Ann nodded enthusiastically, following him through the streets for a little while and wincing every time they walked past a crossing, though Jack didn't actually make her cross at any of them. They walked past several classy looking hotels, but Ann wrinkled her nose every time Jack pointed one out. She'd contracted an incurable addiction to junk food during their time in the city.

"There," she said adamantly, pointing to a brightly colored fast food outlet. "There."

"Ann, can't we go somewhere a little nicer?"

"No," she replied cheerfully, bouncing through the door of the restaurant. Her eyes widened suddenly and she pointed at the counter. "There he is!"

"Stop _doing _that," Jack growled, following her gaze to a man who had brown hair, at least – though apart from that, there was no resemblance to Cliff whatsoever. "If you're going to think that every person in the damn city is Cliff, why don't we just pick a random one and bring them back to Mineral Town? That'd be a hell of a lot easier."

"Let's get that one," she nodded, pointing to a cute boy serving customers.

Jack stared at her. "_I_ was kidding."

"... Me too," she said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. "Ah... Jack, I want to find him. I'm not even hungry, and you _know _that's a weird thing for me." She brought one hand up to her head, suddenly completely serious. "I _miss_ him. I just... I like it here, you know... but nothing's going to beat Mineral Town – as long as he's there, too."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you could be a sap."

"It's a hidden talent," she sighed, sitting at a table and resting her chin on her hand. "Seriously Jack... I'm not really hungry."

"Burger and large fries?"

"And the sparkly drink," she added with a grin. She'd tried lemonade for the first time the previous day, and the bubbles had given her such a shock, she'd promptly choked her mouthful out onto Jack. Needless to say, he wasn'thappy – but after finishing the rest of the bottle, she'd become quite an expert at lemonade drinking. And, incidentally, an addict of that as well.

"Here," Jack said a few minutes later, returning and shoving a tray at her. He'd bought a healthy looking salad wrap for himself and Ann rolled her eyes wordlessly, making him blush. "Hey... I'm just being sensible. Do you know what kind of crap goes into what you're eating?"

"I don't really care," she retorted with her mouth full. "It's delicious." Her eyes widened and she choked, lifting one hand to point at the street just outside the doorway. "There he is."

Once again, it was a false alarm – the brown haired girl outside the window turned around and did a double-take when she noticed Ann staring and pointing at her, making the redhead pout at the floor. "I keep seeing him everywhere." Her eyes were watching the outside world carefully, occasionally lighting up and then dulling again. Jack watched her sympathetically for a few moments, before giving up and taking a bite out of his wrap.

Minutes passed before Ann started acting really... _really_ strange. She'd lifted her burger up to her mouth, then slowly placed it back down on the table and stared at her hands, her cheeks coloring to an inhuman red. "That's him," she whispered, bringing one hand up to where helpless tears were welling up.

"Ann, don't get your hopes – up," Jack said, turning to scan the area outside the window. There was no-one even resembling Cliff walking past.

"On the other side of the road," she said, still refusing to glance up. "Over the crossing. Goddess, Jack, I can't... I can't just go over to him... what if he doesn't want me?"

Raising an eyebrow at her and then glancing over to where she'd specified, his jaw dropped open. "W-well, he's... cut his hair," he shrugged, no idea what else to say. The man they'd come all this way for was walking on the other side of the road, minus a ponytail, and Ann chose _now _to get nervous? "Go on, quick... he looks like he's heading back to the hostel. You'll lose him if you don't go now."

"I can't get rejected, Jack," she murmured, shaking her head while hiding her face so Cliff wouldn't recognize her if he glanced up. "He'll think it's creepy that I came –"

"He'll think it's sweet."

She glanced up again, impatiently wiping her eyes before any tears could spill over. "You're right. It's sweet... _I'm _sweet. He was going to propose to me... he'll... he'll have to be happy to see me – and if he's not, tough. I mean... I can still be mad at him for leaving like an idiot, right?"

"He won't see you at all if you don't get a move on," Jack pointed out dryly. Ann glanced up, and in the next instant she was running as fast as her legs would take her, leaving a bewildered Jack behind. He slowly got to his feet, glancing outside and smirking as Ann's adrenaline-fueled rush stopped short at the traffic lights separating her from Cliff. But then she ran straight across without a second thought, leaving Jack scowling in frustration.

Cliff was coming close to turning a corner, and Ann's steps were quickening with each one _he _took. Jack was a fair way behind her – but she wasn't far from Cliff now. Twenty steps... ten steps... five steps...

"You damn idiot!"

"W-what," Cliff said nervously, rubbing the place at the back of his head where he'd just been smacked. "E-excuse me, I – Ann?" His eyes widened to an almost unbelievable extent as he blinked at the redhead in front of him, hands on her hips. "Ann, is that – a-am I seeing things again?" He rubbed his eyes and glanced back up at her, disbelieving.

"You damn well are _not _seeing things!" she shouted, grabbing the attention of several people walking past. "Goddess Cliff, _why _are you such an idiot?"

"I'm... sorry...?" he stuttered, his face starting to light up adorably as he realized that maybe he wasn't having hallucinations. "What are you – you doing here, Ann? I –" he trailed off, his face clouding over with confusion. "I left..."

"Uh, yeah you left!" she snapped, stamping one foot for emphasis and not even bothering as random people actually stopped to watch the argument. "You left without even _talking _to me, damn it! You just... just assumed out of the blue that I would turn you down, and –" Jack had caught up and was standing behind her at this point, watching in half-amusement, half-sympathy as Cliff's face steadily reddened. "You're just... an idiot! Because obviously I _wouldn't _have said no –"

"What?"

"What?" Ann repeated after Cliff, _her_ cheeks reddening this time. "I – you heard me! I would have said yes, damn you. What kind of moron wouldn't even –"

Not sure whether to be upset at her words or ecstatic at the message behind them, Cliff stood staring at her as she continued her rant. Had she mentioned why she was here, yet? Or how on earth she'd found him? Not that she wasn't welcome, but... and Goddess, they had an audience. A rapidly growing audience – people were starting to cross the street just to see what everyone else was looking at.

"– not _one_ indication, and I am _not _a damn mind reader!"

Jack was standing behind Ann, mouthing something indistinguishable to the traveler. Cliff squinted at him for a few moments, before the words 'Kiss her' became painfully obvious and his face flushed an even deeper red with the thought of using that method to stop her flow of angry insults. To add to his mortification, a few know-it-alls in the crowd had picked up on Jack's hints before Cliff had – a small murmur of 'Kiss her' from a select few expanded until nearly the whole crowd was chanting it enthusiastically, having a great time for themselves. Cars were slowing down as they passed the group, and Ann seemed to remain blissfully oblivious to all of it as her eyes remained fixed furiously on Cliff.

"– thought to maybe _tell_ me, we wouldn't be in this situation," the waitress finished abruptly, her hands unclenching from fists and her voice dropping.

_Then _she seemed to realize that they weren't alone as her wide blue eyes traveled around the chanting, grinning crowd. "What are they –" she cut herself off suddenly, registering the words the people around her were saying. She stared at Cliff expectantly for a few moments while he fidgeted with a button on his shirt, then came to the quick conclusion that he wasn't going to be doing anything of the sort with people watching and the possibility of being rejected. So of course, she did what any sane girl _would _do – moving forward and crushing her lips to his in a split second.

She pulled away as quickly as she'd kissed him, but it didn't stop the few smart ass cheers _or _both Cliff and Ann's faces from turning unnatural shades of reddish purple. "I – yeah," he mumbled, taking her hand and pulling her a little closer to him in an unusually bold move. "I got rid of the feather," he told her quietly, his eyes downcast. "I'm sorry... I... didn't think I'd need it. I – I didn't think you would..."

"Cliff," she snapped, her embarrassment lost in her irritation. "Cliff – I spent a whole day on a damn leaking _ferry _– I came miles and miles away from the place I grew up – I'm in a _completely_ surreal environment right this second! I did it all to find you –" she choked back an almost amused laugh, "Now, do you really think I need a freaking _feather_ stopping me from being with you?" Cliff began to stutter something apologetic, but Ann shut him up instantly with another brief, annoyed kiss.

And then she dropped onto one knee.

Jack doubled over after a few mere seconds of shock, his hysterics too much for his body to take standing upright. Confused murmuring was coming from the crowd all around them, and Cliff... Cliff looked like he was about to faint, his mouth open and his whole body frozen to the spot.

"Marry me," she snapped in what may have been the most aggressive proposal in history. "I... kinda... well, love you. Moron." She had to raise her voice above the wolf-whistles and cheers of comprehension from their little – or large – audience, but the man opposite had obviously caught the gist of it. Exhaling slowly, she continued in a loud voice without waiting for an answer. "And... if you won't come back to Mineral Town... I'll stay here."

That was all it took to calm Jack down significantly as he straightened up again. "Dude, seriously... if that's the choice, go back to Mineral Town," he said in an almost frightened voice. "_Soon._"

Still apparently frozen from the neck down, Cliff's eyes sifted through the crowd. The teenage girls who were pressing their hands to their hearts and squealing, 'aw!' in high-pitched voices – the obnoxious young men who were cracking up and making whipping motions – the older people who looked tolerantly amused, rolling their eyes slightly at how 'outrageous' young lovers were becoming - none of them were helping with his sudden paralysis in the slightest.

"Yes!" he eventually blurted out, still refusing to move from his spot. "B-but please... _please _stand up?"

**xxx**

"Your fiancé?" Linda asked disbelievingly, barely offering a glance to the ten-dollar ring that Ann was displaying proudly. Cliff had promised to save up and have Saibara make her a proper one, but she'd glimpsed the one now on her finger – in a cheap, commercial jewelery store with insane amounts of pink and aimed at teenage girls – and _begged _her fiancé to buy it for her. It was awful and garish; fake, brassy gold with tons of tiny diamantes gathered around a huge green stone – but it had caught her eye, and there had been no way she was leaving that store without it. It was practically her polka-dotted hat condensed.

"Uh-huh," Ann said proudly, wiggling her fingers a little to watch her ring sparkle in the overhead lights. Linda stood up a little straighter, shifting baby Kayla on her hip and leveling the nervous-looking Cliff with a scowl.

"And what do you want with my daughter exactly, young man?"

"Mom, she isn't your daughter," Jack pointed out dryly. Cliff shot him a thankful attempt at a smile, but went back to staring at his hands almost immediately, more than a little overcome with nerves under Linda's unwavering glare. _Why _exactly was he here, looking for the blessing of... Ann's... friend's... mom?

Worse than that, it didn't look like he was _getting _her blessing. "Where do you work, Cliff?" she said sharply, drumming on the kitchen bench with her free hand.

His face paled. "I... I, uh... right now, I –"

"He works in a winery," Jack filled in before Cliff could stutter that he wasn't working at all in the city. "In Mineral Town. Mom, can I see you in the hall?"

Looking guilty, his mother traipsed out after him, bringing Kayla with her. He turned abruptly, raising one annoyed eyebrow. "What's the problem?" he asked simply.

"I just..." she began, pouting at the floor in a child-like way. "I know you said that you really, really like that girl in Mineral Town... but I don't know, I... don't want to see you give up on Ann, then see her get married and _then _realize that you love her."

Breathing out through his nose impatiently, Jack closed his eyes. "I'm having a weird dejavu flashback to... oh, _yesterday morning._" He glared at his mom – and Kayla, just because – then folded his arms over his chest. "Look, even though I don't want to be having this conversation with you, Mary and I are... I don't know exactly, but I'm telling you there's something special there, and I know it's not only me that sees it."

"Fine," Linda said, raising a perfect eyebrow. "I'll ask Ann if she sees anything special with you and that girl. Because I'll have you know, you've got something special with Ann. I know you won't want to think it about this Mary girl, since you're obviously so taken by her, but sometimes the women that can make you fall for them the hardest are the ones who take some kind of sick pleasure in toying with your emotions, and –"

"Just go ask Ann," he growled, half pushing her back into the kitchen. Ann and Cliff both had helpless smiles on their faces, shooting lovestruck, shy glances at each other but looking away as soon as they made eye contact.

"Ann," Jack's mother said without any hesitation, "Jack likes a girl called Mary, and he _insists _that there's something real between them. Have you noticed anything like that?"

"Jack and Mary," Ann grinned, raising both eyebrows at Jack, whose face remained impassive. "Jack and Mary. He actually shuts up for once when she has something to say... and _her_ eyes go all sparkly and girly when he's talking. It's pretty cute. But... it's not so cute when his eyes do the same thing."

"Wait – he _listens _to her?" Linda repeated, like she couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," Ann replied, nodding seriously. "He's scarily defensive of her, too. And when he's finished work –"

"Okay, you can stop," Jack interrupted, starting to blush.

"He'll go and wait in the library for hours, just talking to her. Sometimes not even talking to her, but he's _always _there."

"Stop, Ann," he frowned. "And how the hell do you even know that?"

"Honey!" Linda said, her voice sounding on the verge of tears. "That's the most adorable thing I've ever heard about you." She sighed. "Alright, point taken. Cliff... I'm sure you and Ann will be very happy together."

"Um... thank you," he said softly, a little alarmed by her apparent change of heart. Linda just beamed graciously – now that she was sure Cliff wasn't stealing her son's only chance at happiness – before excusing herself and leaving the room to put Kayla down for a nap.

"I, uh..." Cliff began, his gaze traveling from Jack to Ann – his lips turning up into a smile whenever it was the latter – "Saw Kai."

"Where?" Ann asked interestedly, while Jack snarled the word threateningly thanks to his dislike of the man. Cliff looked taken-aback.

"When I was at the dock, arriving here," he said quietly. "He... I think he'd been to Europe, but, uh... he was coming back... to live on the other side of the city. For a little while."

"Manna told me he joined the army!" Ann scowled.

Jack looked at her incredulously. "And you believed her?"

**xxx**

Saying goodbye to Linda had been a mission in itself on the tenth of Winter – the morning Jack and Ann left the city. Cliff, who hadn't been able to get a place on that day's ferry and had made bookings for the seventeenth, had kissed Ann shyly and promised he would see her soon. But Jack's mother? Not a chance.

She'd used herself as a barricade for the front door, trying desperately to hold the pair back as their taxi waited impatiently outside. "Jack, if I let you go, you _know _it will be at least another year until you come back to visit me. And Ann won't have any reason to come see me at all, being a married woman and the rest of it! Stay just another week, please?"

So when Jack had forcibly pulled her away from the door, weeping and wailing, she decided that she was going to come with them in the taxi so she could see them off at the dock. Of course, that became an even bigger issue – she'd become nervous that the ferry didn't look sturdy enough to make the long journey; then said that they should complain to the management and stay in the city for a few weeks while repairs took place.

Somehow – _somehow –_ the two of them had made it onto the ferry alive, even if they _were _both covered in lipstick marks and smelling like Linda's perfume. And somehow Jack made it through most of the trip without insanely murderous feelings towards Ann, even with her comments to random strangers. "You're wearing earrings, hey? I know what they are." "Do you have a moving house?" "I'm not scared of traffic lights, you know."

He didn't even mind _too _much that he was traveling with a girl who was proudly wearing an oversized and hideously ugly polka-dotted hat, a tacky ring, and faded, ripped denim overalls. It all seemed... irrelevant, with the promise of what was waiting for him back in Mineral Town. Back home.

She was the first thing that caught his eye when the ferry docked. Anna was standing beside her, speaking to her daughter frantically in an obvious whisper. Basil stood beside Anna. Jill and Gray were waiting a little closer to the dock, while Doug, Karen, Rick and Elli were also waiting at various spots on the beach.

Mary's heart started beating a little faster as the ferry workers let the ladder down, then stopped altogether for a moment as Jack appeared at the top. He barely put in an effort – just walking down and then holding out one hand for Ann, who was obviously finding the ladder rather less easy to maneuver.

... The librarian was trying her best not to panic, but... with Cliff obviously not there to help Ann down, and the way Jack was smiling at the redhead... maybe it was presumptuous of her to assume that nothing had changed. She could have waited; didn't have to show up at the dock like some desperate –

Oh Goddess. Mary had to roll her eyes as Jack turned around and winked at her, resulting in Anna taking a sharp, thrilled breath – before he promptly let go of Ann's hand, sending the waitress plummeting into the water with a graceless 'splash'.

"_That_ is for the entire week," he grinned as Ann splashed around aimlessly, her face beyond furious while she grasped for her hat which was floating somewhere out to sea. Unaffected by her murderous threats – which weren't so threatening when she was bobbing up and down in the ocean – Jack made his way across the beach quickly and enveloped Mary in a hug that almost suffocated the poor girl.

"I missed you, I missed you, I missed you," he mumbled hurriedly, as if he was trying to see how many times he could say it in the space of a second.

"I missed you too," she managed to choke out. Jack seemed to register her breathing difficulties and reluctantly pulled away – only to be met with the incredulous gazes of everyone on the beach. The librarian looked at Jack in mortification, barely mouthing the words 'do something' before her delighted mother could go and beat down the door of Manna's house with her new gossip. Jack glanced from Mary, to Doug, to Jill, to Ann in the water, before throwing himself on Anna with almost equal enthusiasm.

"Oh my Goddess," Mary whispered, bringing one exasperated hand to her forehead and choking back giggles at the bewildered look on her mom's face.

"I missed you," Jack told Anna seriously, pulling away from her and moving across. "Basil... uh..." he stuck his hand out for an awkward handshake. "Missed you too, sir. And all the rest of you –" he was spared from enthusiastically hugging the rest of the crowd, by something relatively heavy and damp connecting with the back of him as Ann tackled him furiously into the sand.

**xxx**

"Did you have fun?" Jill asked quietly, throwing her brother a few ice cubes wrapped in a wet towel. He angrily pressed them to his lip, which was busted for the second time in a few short days.

"Mmphamuls," he replied, shaking his head.

"...Uh huh," she nodded awkwardly, walking away from her scowling brother.

She'd hoped... that maybe, somehow, the week apart would have done them both a world of good. Some part of her – while her brother was away – had forgiven him for his unkind words... and she'd hoped that he would do the same thing; think it over while he was away from her and come back determined to make amends.

The thing was, she was _still mad_, and the only thing that would change that was... well, an apology. If Jack approached her, and said that he was sorry for what had happened... she would apologize for lying to him, as well. Because she _was _sorry – but not sorry enough to say it first.

Honestly though, it was reaching the point of ridiculous. Granted, it had been a big fight, but they'd gone weeks without talking now. And when she looked at the point that the siblings had never argued for more than a few days at a time, before... she was beginning to wonder whether or not _permanent_ damage had been done to their relationship.

**xxx**


	47. Chapter 47

**(This is going to be a big Author's Note. You have been warned.)**

**Right, first, oh my God, I love you guys. Nine hundred reviews is unbelievable... I never ever thought I'd even make a hundred, I swear.**

**Second, after you guys have waited so so so patiently and I should be rewarding you in a major way, this is a short and fillerifishic and basically boring chapter. I AM SO SORRY. After this we're jumping into the thick of the drama and then resolving, so please don't abandon me xD.**

**But, I have the best excuse for not updating ever in the history of Harvest Moon fanfiction... my town burnt down. XD and I'm completely serious, I don't know if it's been on worldwide news or anything, but it's seriously like hell has visited. Look up Victorian bushfires. There's close to two thousand homes burnt down and hundreds of people dead... it's horrible and I can't believe how lucky my family are. It was the most terrifying time of my life, but our house is okay, and the worst thing that happened to us is losing power for a week, so we're incredibly lucky. BUT, that's my excuse, and we'll pretend that I didn't have major writer's block for weeks before it even happened, hmm? XD**

**Besides that, I know I have so many reviews I need to write for various stories, and I'm really sorry that I'm behind on that. I'm going to try and get all caught up tomorrow. But good news – I did the worst audition of my life for a stupid production, so odds are THAT won't be cutting into my writing time whatsoever v.v**

**And finally, I feel like I need to address this before anyone else does – I know that I've been extremely selective with which characters I give story time lately. There hasn't been a massive amount of GrayxJill interaction, and there hasn't been a lot of Tom or Veronica. This IS going to change after this chapter, because this story has a couple more twists before the end, and trust me when I say that I will make up for everyone that's been neglected.**

**OH. I almost forgot xD I'm not sure if I'm allowed to put direct links here... but if you go onto my profile page and look at my update information, I've got a link to where The Scarlet Sky has done this incredible fanart of Jack and Ann and the infamous hat. Go comment and favourite her and whatever else you deviants do xD.**

**Random Jelly Beans – **_Yeah, twelve chapters :P it's more than you think! A lot can happen in twelve chapters, and if school keeps up the way it is.. I'm sorry to say that it might take a long time to get them all done v.v and I appreciate your excessive punctuation even if fanfiction won't show it... it's the thought that counts XD. I'd always seen Ann as the one proposing to Cliff, always. She's assertive enough XD. Thank you so much for reviewing!_

**Jean Cooper – **_Naww, thank you m'am. Unfortunately, the hat did make it and will be making more appearances in the story... damn. Until an undecided later date, when I'll let Jack get his hands on it and... I don't know, burn it, or make beds for the chickens with it or something._

**The Scarlet Sky – **_OMG, I love you. Hey there nine hundredth ^^ and eight hundredth and something, before that. In relation to your first review, you're silly :P no, Kai hasn't gone to join the army and he won't die in combat or anything like that. I have plans for darling Kai... muahaha! ... (ahem), anyway, you're the one that's like... anti-happy ending :P I don't think this is the end of Jack and Ann trying to murder each other xD now that it's begun, it may never end. Thanks for being so patient with me!_

**Melii101 – **_Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that you didn't have a great time :( but you're right, at least you were with your family. I'm not a huge AnnxCliff fan either, to tell you the truth, but I did like writing that scene a lot... and writing it made me like the pairing better, if you get what I mean. I have to end it in twelve chapters... as long as I have a place to end, I'll be able to stop myself, because otherwise I'll keep writing forever xD. Thank you!_

**Kiminochi – **_Hey! Thank you so much. I love Ann a LOT... let's just say that a certain Ann-obsessed girl converted me xD so she's a really fun character to write about. Almost as fun as Jack and Mary... I just really like them together :P same with Jill and Gray, but for completely different reasons. I think Jill needs Gray... and Jack and Mary need each other xD and in his own weird little way, Gray needs Jill. So thank you again, I really appreciate the review!_

**ZombieDragon – **_Ah, come on, you KNOW I won't let it be permanent damage. I love Jack and Jill's friendship too much to ever let that happen... I might just take my time in getting it back to normal between them :3 poor Jack, I feel bad for him having to put up with Ann's city behaviour for so long... but we all know he loves her deep down. Occasionally deep deep deep deep down._

**DoubleKK – **_Haha, if you knew that I'd been four days to update instead of two... I don't really want to know how many days it was this time XD. Aw, don't put pressure on me! I'll make the last chapter as wonderful and happy ending-y as I can manage :P and definitely happy endings for everyone... though you might kill me if I point out that I do mean EVERYONE. Eep. Aww, sorry for capturing you into Ann's ridiculous over enthusiasm... truth be told, I got excited every time she yelled "It's him!" as well :3_

**Ultra Drama Queen – **_Aw, it's not all that often I get an entire review written in capital letters ^^ so yeah, Cliff and Ann are getting married and Tim and Elli are getting married and Karen and Rick and Veronica and Tom ARE married... so I guess almost everyone except Jack and Jill are settling down xD. I'm really sorry it took me this long to update... it's just been a hectic month I guess :3 but thank you so much for sticking around!_

**AsianFlipGurl – **_Oh no! Laptop probation is the worst D: every time I don't manage to finish my homework. Which is ironic because I don't see how I can do my homework when I don't have my computer... yeah XD hopefully you're not on probation any more. Yeah, they found Cliff :P and as I've said to someone else, I always saw Ann as being the one to propose in that relationship. And Cliff not really minding when she proposed because it made him feel speeeeeeecial. Haha._

**xTrueEmotion – **_Awww, thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked it... I wouldn't call it anywhere near perfect but it's gorgeous of you to say so. Hee, I can picture Cliff without his ponytail really clearly... just normal... with the bangs and everything, of course ^^ but minus a ponytail at the back. Twelve chapters is more than you think, believe me :3 a lot happens. I'd love to write a sequel SO much... about their kids xD but I think I'd be pushing it if I did._

**Starlight Amethyst – **_No, you're not being lazy... too lazy to log in is when you're at the forums and there's something you desperately want to say... and you click the button to say something and the window pops up with your email address and password, and all you have to do is click another button... and then you STILL can't be bothered. That's me, lmao. But thank you so much and I hope you keep enjoying the story._

**BlueCupcakes – **_Naww, I loved getting your massively long review... and trust me, I would have been more annoyed than you if fanfiction had cut you off. You're one of those people who kind of seem to fail at getting fanfiction to send their whole reviews, aren't you? XD No JackxAnn romance in THIS story (to tell you the truth, I was maybe debating putting a LITTLE bit in the city... and then realized how mean that would be to Jaann fans, to tempt them a little and pull it away. Hehe.) Thanks so much for the review, and thanks not so much for distracting me with pointless youtube videos. :P_

**Katrina Tora – **_I knowwww, and I keep repeating it but that's because it's so true; ANN NEEDED TO PROPOSE. There was just like... no other possible way it could have happened XD. And oh my god, your brother is so mean! That sounds like something mine would do. Or would have done when he was younger, at least XD. If I ever remake the Wizard Of Oz, you can totally be the main flying monkey :3_

**DemonDude12 – **_At least someone realizes how many twelve chapters are ^^ if you go by the length of (most of... not this one) my recent chapters, that could be close to a hundred thousand words more. Which is a LOT. Aww, I know you were holding out for the CliffxAnn :P I'm sorry. I do love Jaann, always will... but Mary's been through so much ^^ you understand. I think... in the next few chapters, people are either going to feel incredibly sympathetic towards Jill or get incredibly pissed at her xD. And Jack IS overshadowing her a lot... but he's about to take a big step back and she's about to take a big step forward. Thanks!_

**Naito Kaji – **_Haha, just pretend that Ann is you or something. Then it can be YOU marrying Cliff XD. Thank you for reviewing, hope you enjoy!_

**Quartet – **_Strangled with a fishing line O.o those sound like the kind of threats I give to Jean Cooper. Now I see just how scary they are and feel very very sorry for her XD. Well, I'm glad that you didn't strangle me that time.. I'm not so sure about this time, since it actually DID take me a month and it was craptastic. Let me know :P_

**JrocksAnime – **_Thank you so much. It's always really wonderful to see that new people are reading, and it makes my day when they take the time to leave a review._

**Kingshine – **_Thanks ^^ glad you thought so. Let me know what you think of this one._

**Cryptic Love – **_Because I can't be bothered switching between upper and lower case when I write your penname xD. Haha, I don't think Cliff would be lying to Ann about Kai just for the heck of it, huh? And there's another sappy Mary and Jack moment in this chapter, don't you worry about that xD. Hey, that was hardly a short review – and I, of all people, know what you mean when you say you've been busy ^^ I've been so slack with reviewing anything. Sigh._

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**Blank (nameless person xD) – **_Oh wow, that really makes me smile to hear. I'm super glad that you're enjoying it so far, and please don't let the basic pointlessness of this chapter put you off too badly... I swear they won't all be like this ^^. Hee! I won't be killing Veronica off, but I have plans for her that you will maybe or maybe not be happy with. :P thanks again!_

**xxx**

"How much did you miss me?"

"I already told you," Mary said with a forced scowl, trying to look exasperated.

Jack frowned at her, leaning his elbows on her desk as she tried to work. "Well... I forgot. Remind me?"

She exhaled as she fought back a smile. "I missed you a lot, Jack," she told him in a dull monotone. "For the fiftieth time."

"I missed you more."

"You've come back so corny," she laughed, rolling her eyes and swatting at his hand as he reached out to take hers. "What did they do to you?"

"_Them_?" he scoffed. "No need for the plural there, Mares. It was all Ann. She showed me how lucky I am... compared to poor Cliff."

"Isn't she meant to be your best friend?" Mary shot back, closing her eyes briefly as her smile refused to be held back any longer. "Remind me never to annoy you. You'll go talking about me behind my back."

"Trust me, any bitching I've done about that girl... she's had it said to her face too," Jack grinned. "I don't intend to go back to the city for a long, long time. I'm scarred for life," he finished dramatically, resting his head on his arms while Mary shot him a mock-hurt look.

"Well, I'm disappointed now. I thought I was next." She blushed as he lifted his head and quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'm... joking..."

"I'm going to take you one day," he promised seriously, before making an amused scoffing sound. "As if I could avoid it... my mom will never let me rest until she's met you. I told her about you... needless to say, she's curious." He made a face.

"What did you tell her?" Mary asked quickly, frowning. Jack's eyes twinkled slightly as he glanced back up at her.

"What did I tell her... I said you were a great kisser. We had a decent conversation about that –" he ducked instinctively, grinning as the mortified girl slapped his forearm. "What do you think I told her? She's my mother, for heaven's sake... you'll see when you meet her; there is _nothing _you can keep from that woman. Besides," his voice took on a softer tone and he winked at her, "You're kind of special. I wanted to share that with her. And... Ann and Cliff know that I have feelings for you, but I'm not sure if anyone else really... gets it." He exhaled, flashing her a quick smile. "So... yeah, the next time Mom calls to talk to me... just be aware that she's probably _really _calling to talk to _you_."

"I'll keep it in mind," she murmured, playing with the end of her dark braid and blushing as she determinedly avoided Jack's eyes.

"Aw... I didn't mean to make you blush," he apologized – none too sincerely, as the smirk on his face illustrated. "But... it's not my fault that I can make it happen so easily."

She glanced at the ceiling and pressed her lips together, refusing to reply to his unarguably true comment. _Too easily. _"Jack, I have to work," she said softly. "I have books that won't sort themselves... it's a boring job, honestly. You'd be better off –"

"Attempting to help you. And if I'm no help... I'll just dedicate my time to seeing how many times I can make you blush in... we'll say an hour from now, hey? ... One," he counted at the beginning of color in her cheeks. He stuck his hand out with an enthusiastic smile. "Jack Evans, your new employee. So," He clapped his hands together, "Where do we start?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she said lightly, nudging a heavy book-filled box towards him with her foot. "There's another six of them..." she teased at the alarmed look on his face.

"... No problem," he choked, foreseeing a long and tedious few hours. Unless...

He obediently dipped to swipe a book from the top of the pile as Mary did the same thing, before changing his objective and reaching for her hand instead. He pulled her close to him for a kiss, which she willingly returned before shaking her head and pushing back from him, smirking somewhat. "You know you're not allowed to flirt with your employer... especially when you're _supposed _to be working," she sighed playfully. "Don't make me fire you, Jack."

"Then I quit," he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and blinking at her beseechingly. "It's no fun if I'm not allowed to flirt."

"Who ever said anything about fun? It... has to be done," she said reluctantly, offering the mound of books an annoyed glance.

"Does it have to be done _now_?" he pressed, tilting his head at her in a way that was frustratingly adorable.

"... If it doesn't get done now, I'll just have to do it another day..."

"But you don't _have _to do it today."

"Well, no, technically –"

"Then come on a walk with me," he offered. "Mother's Hill... and this qualifies as a date, actually... so if you turn me down... I'll know where I stand."

"I don't want to cope with my mother just yet," she groaned, looking tempted at the same time. "Do you _know _what kind of torture she'll put me through tonight... if she sees us on a date? She'll probably tie me to a chair and shine bright lights on me until I give her every detail –"

"You know... I get the feeling that our mothers would get along really well," he said suddenly, before frowning at her. "Okay, _please_? I promise I won't write up a report and slide it under your mom's door."

She closed her eyes for a moment before shrugging and shaking her head. "Okay... if you insist."

He glanced at her in disappointment, then did a double take. "What?"

"If you insist... fine," she said with a note of laughter in her voice, then immediately lowering her eyebrows at him. "You look shocked."

"You're neglecting your work to come on a date with me?"

"I am not neglecting it," she said adamantly, crossing her arms and blushing yet again. "I'm... postponing it."

"That's the same thing."

"Okay... I'll stay here and do it then," she shrugged, turning back to the shelves behind her. Horrified at the notion, Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her out the library door before she even had a chance to protest.

"Lock it," he instructed bluntly, holding the door closed for her. She reluctantly put the key in and turned it, then found herself being whisked away before she could get a word in.

"Jack, my mother –"

"Won't have a clue," he promised, smiling down at her despite the fact that she was almost running to keep up with his long strides. He squeezed her hand lightly, staring straight ahead again. "I really... did miss you," he told her in a quiet voice, not meeting her eyes. "Too much."

"How much is... too much?"

He glanced at her awkwardly. "I can't say it... without sounding corny... and it's something I'm actually really serious about." He blinked up at the sky for a moment. "It was too much... because it was like, it... physically hurt me to be away from you."

She nodded silently, staring at the ground as they kept walking. They cut through Jack's farm and were on the path up Mother's Hill when she finally replied in a soft voice. "Then I missed you too much, as well."

He attempted a smile, but he was unusually subdued as he sat down in a grassy clearing, pulling Mary down next to him and resting his chin in one hand. The librarian nervously stayed beside him, folding her hands in her skirt anxiously and all too aware of the small amount of space between them – normally Jack would pull her closer, but now he seemed overwhelmingly occupied as he stared into the distance blankly.

"A-are you okay?" she asked eventually, not sure just _what _had brought on his sudden mood swing. Her words seemed to pull Jack into reality; he looked at her sharply, then groaned and rested his forehead in both hands.

"Goddess, Mares... I'm..." he mumbled, shaking his head and still not showing his face. He muffled another exasperated groan, then ran both hands back through his hair in an aggravated fashion.

"Jack?" she eventually whispered when she was sure he was finished speaking. She couldn't completely disguise the waver in her voice; he seemed to calm down a little bit as he smiled at her.

"How –" He began before biting down on his tongue, shaking his head. "It's not the time. We're... meant to be on a date, right? I shouldn't be depressing you like this. Sorry, Mares."

She let him pull her to her feet, still puzzled and worried over his behavior... but unwilling to bring him down further by forcing him to talk about it. He took her hand and walked her up to the peak of Mother's Hill, that uncharacteristically distressed expression still on his face. He smiled suddenly. "I read your novel."

"Oh Goddess," she murmured, pulling her hand away from him so she could cover her blushing face. "Don't talk about it... I don't want a review –"

"It was brilliant," he said sincerely, grabbing both her hands and pinning them to her sides in an attempt to make her look at him. "And I'm not... big on reading the whole... emotional thing, with books, but I swear to you – I loved it."

"Thank you," she said quickly, "But still... don't talk about it. I still can't believe I let you read it. It's embarrassing..."

He snorted. "Embarrassing? Obviously, you've got no idea what the word means. Impressive, yes. Embarrassing... far from."

"I do know what it means," she scowled adamantly, wrenching her hands away and crossing them over her chest. "It wouldn't matter if I put literature's best writers to shame – it would still be embarrassing for me, and I... hope you understand that." It was her turn to frown at the earth below her feet. "I didn't... think I would ever let anyone read it. I mean... I'm not going to get published, and I'd never dream of showing my parents... I wouldn't have shown Gray..." she cut herself off abruptly, her eyes wide as she stared at Jack and he stared at her.

"Really?"

"I couldn't," she blurted out, her cheeks coloring. "There's – there's no way I would have ever... not to him. I didn't think... to anyone."

He nodded at her, his mouth curling in sympathy mixed with something resembling jealousy. "You... still think about him a lot?" The question was asked casually and his face was composed, but something about him was almost... edgy.

Her mouth opened and she immediately closed it again, frowning deeply. "I don't," she murmured, apparently to herself. Her eyes flicked up to meet Jack's. "I don't. Almost never."

He was staring back, no amusement in his face. "Do you ever wish I was him? Even a little?"

"No."

He looked beyond taken-aback as the easy smile returned to his face. "That was a... simple answer."

Mary shrugged, shaking her head somewhat. "Perfect for a simple question."

"Can you..." he struggled for words. "_Un_simplify it for me? Why did you say it like you were so sure?"

"Because I am," she said plainly. At the very least, after all he'd done for her... she owed him the truth. "Because... I – care about you. More than I cared about him. Because he's Gray, and you're Jack." Her face had looked a little defensive, but now it softened. "How could I wish for you to be anything different?"

He stood there a few moments longer, before putting his arms around the librarian and hugging her close to him.

He could spend all day asking her to repeat herself; to explain it to him in a way that was easier to understand... but it wouldn't accomplish anything. He wasn't Gray, he couldn't _be_ Gray, and she didn't want him to be Gray. Maybe that was as simple – and as complicated – as it was ever going to get.

**xxx**

"Can I come in?"

"Um... sure you can," Popuri said, tilting her head slightly and opening the door to let Jill inside. "Why are you – oh." She giggled nervously, letting a few pink curls fall in front of her face. "Karen asked you to come? To talk about Elli's wedding?"

"Yeah..." Jill said slowly, glancing around the obviously Karen-free room. "Where is she?"

"With Elli," the girl shrugged. "Ann came over today, as well... but Karen's up talking about the dress or something. Ann had to go back to work, but it's okay if you stay and wait..."

"I might as well," Jill sighed, gingerly sitting down on the large sofa while Popuri smiled and bounced away into the kitchen.

She'd never connected with her. They weren't openly rude to each other – heck, she didn't even dislike Popuri; not by a long shot. There had been... some issues between them... when Jill first arrived, but the one thing that she blamed for the relationship – or lack of – between the two of them, was Kai. For a long time now, they hadn't been on warm terms with each other... thanks to Jill's stupid actions with Popuri's hopeless crush.

"Here," the pink-haired girl sang, setting a plate of biscuits down on the table and taking a chair opposite Jill. "She shouldn't be _too _much longer... I think she's been over there for three hours, by now." Jill could have sworn that she heard a mumbled, 'Poor Elli' as the girl across from her lifted a biscuit to her lips. She had to smirk.

Naturally, an awkward silence fell between the two of them. The blonde glanced anxiously at the door every two seconds, while _Popuri_, of all people, remained as composed as anything. "Marriage is getting really popular now, huh?" she asked, seemingly unaffected as she leveled Jill with a curious stare. "When do you think Gray's going to ask you?"

"Oh... I don't –" Jill began unsurely, her cheeks coloring. "I don't really... think about that –"

"Why not?"

"Gray and I are... I just don't want to rush," she murmured nervously. "There's no real hurry for marriage, I –"

"Do you love him enough?" Popuri asked vacantly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger like she couldn't see how uncomfortable the conversation was making Jill. "It's not such a big deal... I mean it is, but if you love him you should get married, right?"

"Well... not necessarily," Jill stuttered out, wringing her hands and looking anywhere but at Popuri. "I mean... some people get married – and that works for them – but it's really not necessary. I'm not in a huge rush, you know? I – where would Gray and I live? The farmhouse barely fits Jack and I at the moment. I just... don't intend to rush into anything."

"That's weird," Popuri retorted, crinkling her nose some. She stood up, brushing some crumbs from her skirt before sitting back down. "If I had a guy that loved me like he loves you... I'd be pushing for marriage." She giggled. "Well... I guess I won't be facing that problem anytime soon."

A silence fell between them as Popuri crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back to wait for Karen, ignoring the pleading expression on Jill's face.

"Popuri..."

"Mhm?" she said, her eyes lowered to the floor as she forced a bright, albeit wavering, smile to remain on her face.

"I'm... so sorry."

"Don't be," she shrugged immediately; defensively. "How is it your problem whether or not I have someone?" Her voice seemed to trail off slightly, subtly illustrating what they were both thinking.

"I was an idiot to act like I did... with Kai," Jill said quietly, her gaze on her own hands. "And I know I've apologized... but that's not enough, is it? I ruined the relationship between you two... I'll take the blame for that, because it's... true, you know? I just want you to know, I... I wish I could take it back. I can't, so it doesn't matter, but... I really do mean it."

The girl opposite nodded slowly, her pink curls bouncing somewhat as she started intently at the wall across from her. "Thanks for... saying sorry," she replied, closing her scarlet eyes for a moment. "That's nice of you."

"Well..." the blonde hesitated, wanting to say that 'nice' was a kind of pointless way of describing it – but opting to keep her mouth shut. An apology wasn't enough, but it was enough for now. There was nothing else she could do about it. And she truly _meant _that she would take it back if she could, partly, as she'd said, because it had hurt Popuri and _Kai_, eventually – but mostly recalling now how Gray must have felt throughout the whole thing. Something like the way she would feel if _he _was messing around with someone else. She'd been so immature – selfish – but if nothing else, realizing that now must show that she'd grown up slightly since then. Right?

"I don't blame you," Popuri said suddenly, graciously. Jill glanced up, her brow pulling together.

"Did you listen to yourself?" she scoffed. "Do you remember what we're talking about? I don't even think it's _possible _to not blame me for that."

"I don't, though," she confessed, her eyes downcast. She kept her teeth pressed down on her lip for a long time, silent. "I kind of... I was mad, you know? So I guess I let you feel... more guilty than you needed to." Jill didn't interrupt her. "I wasn't... _with _Kai, exactly. He hadn't promised me anything –"

"I know that," she cut in. "But he could have, eventually –"

"No," Popuri said firmly. "He wouldn't. He was fun, and he was... really nice to me, so I liked him a lot. But Kai wasn't my soulmate... and I never really thought he was." She quirked an eyebrow. "You do believe in soulmates, right Jill?"

"Y-yeah, of course," the blonde choked back, frowning deeply.

"So I'm not as hurt as I would be if Kai had been my soulmate," she continued, and Jill was suddenly struck by how mature _Popuri _was coming across. "Kai would have wanted me to travel with him. He would have wanted me to leave Mom... my soulmate's going to stay here with me." She lifted her chin confidently. "I don't know when I'll meet him, but I will, and it's going to be worth it."

"I'm..." Jill began, completely at a loss for words. Luckily, the door opened and Karen pushed inside, Rick's hand in hers.

"Oh, hi Jill," Karen called out, before her face fell. "I told you to come, didn't I? Sorry..." she brought one hand up to the side of her face. "I'm more stressed out for this than I was for my own wedding." Rick snorted in disbelief and she elbowed him in the ribs; none of this deferring her pattern of speech. "Three days before the wedding... honestly, I don't know where the time went. These things are so stressful! Jill – never get married." Then the obvious awkward silence in which Karen realized her husband was standing right behind her. "Unless it's Rick, of course, in which case it's absolutely worth it," she tacked on disjointedly.

"So, um," Jill said hurriedly, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh... I just wanted to tell you that her wedding's in the evening, six o'clock... on the fourteenth, so Thanksgiving which _I_ think is kind of romantic." Rick squeezed Karen's hand and she smiled back at him for a second. "She's having me as her maid of honor and Rick as the best man, and that's it... mostly because we're so behind in our organizing, it's easier to have a tiny group instead of pulling together something at the last minute. Everyone's been so busy... this is a really bad time to have a wedding," she finished with a shrug. "But it should be a really good evening... the reception will be at the inn, around seven o'clock until... whenever people leave, I guess."

"Okay, cool. I'll be there," she nodded. "I'll pass that on to Jack as well – what?" Karen, Rick and Popuri had all exchanged a meaningful look at the mention of her brother. "What?"

"Nothing, Jill," Karen said patronizingly. "It's just... _we_ can tell Jack if you don't want to speak to him."

"It's fine," Jill snapped, her voice sounding suddenly impatient. "We're not five years old... just because we're not getting along doesn't mean we can't communicate basic information, okay?" The other three looked taken-aback, and she sighed. "Look... sorry. I'll go." The blonde quickly pushed out the front door.

"Oops," Popuri sang, raising both eyebrows. "Do either of you know _why _they're fighting?"

"No idea," Rick shrugged, while Karen shook her head bluntly. "But Anna said they've been fighting for a long time... and that Mary knows something but won't tell her."

"Jack and Mary seem close," Popuri said quickly. "And... Jill and Mary don't like each other, do they? Maybe Jill told him he has to choose between them or something."

"He's not _with _Mary, is he?" Karen cut in. "I think they're just good friends... and it's been played up by Anna and Manna."

"I think they'll get together," Popuri argued while Karen shook her head. "Come on, _no-one _spends that much time reading. I bet that's not what he does there."

"Popuri!" Rick exploded furiously. He turned to Karen. "See? That attitude is Kai's influence!"

"And how long has Kai been away for?" Karen asked, planting her hands on her hips and looking amused. "You can't blame him for everything... especially when he's not even here."

"Are you kidding? That's the best time to blame him!" Rick said, his expression completely serious. "When he isn't here to defend himself."

His wife had a half-smile on her face as she tilted her head. "You're kind of cute when you're on a Kai rant."

"Ugh," Popuri murmured as Karen took a step forward to kiss Rick briefly on the lips. "Why the heck do you guys choose _now _to do the gross newlywed thing?"

**xxx**

**The next day.**

"You're going to the wedding, right?"

Gray glanced up quickly from his slumped position against the outside wall of the blacksmith's. "Yeah," he said shortly, allowing Veronica a nod and half smile. "Of course I am."

"Yeah? Well, Tom and I got invited... which we were really surprised about, actually – I mean, we haven't talked to the nurse or doctor much. People here are so hospitable... it's amazing. I wouldn't mind living here, really."

Gray's expression dropped instantly and she waved her hands, rushing on. "Oh, Tom wouldn't. He doesn't like it here... he's a real city boy, and I kind of like moving around. There's a lot of places I want to see... and it's too small here for me, really." She quickly changed the subject. "Are you going to the inn?"

"I'm waiting for Jill," he said. "And then we're both going up to have lunch."

"Really?" She tilted her head. "Same. I'm waiting for –"

"Hey honey," a smooth voice called out from behind Veronica. She giggled slightly as two arms wrapped around her waist from behind and Gray crinkled his nose in distaste. "Gray," Tom nodded in acknowledgment, looking a little afraid of the gruff blacksmith. He didn't receive a reply.

"Um, Jill and Gray are going up for lunch as well," Veronica told her husband, her eyes fixed on him meaningfully. "Maybe we could double?"

"What?" Gray and Tom said simultaneously, before Veronica elbowed the latter in the ribs roughly.

"Uh – sure," the dark-haired man coughed. "Yeah, uh... you two should come sit with us. That could be... fun?"

"Sure it will," the red haired girl beamed, tilting her head at Gray again. "You want us to wait and walk up with you and Jill?"

"Look, I don't think this is a good idea –"

"What isn't a good idea?" The blonde in question had a frown on her face as she walked up the path from her farm, said frown turning into a scowl when she saw Gray's company. "What do you want?"

"We're double dating," Tom said matter-of-factly, winking at her and doing his best to ignore Gray's defensive growl.

"Oh, _are _we?" Jill retorted, almost laughing. "You two are dreaming. Come on, Gray." She clasped one of his hands in both of hers; he vaguely noted that they were trembling as they left Veronica and Tom behind.

"The nerve of them," she mumbled violently. "Did you see how she was looking at you?"

"_That_ is paranoid," the man next to her said quickly, tightening his hold on her. "Don't start looking for things to get annoyed about... please. It's not worth it – it's been so long, Jill. It's not worth being mad at your only sister."

She didn't answer, simply moving in closer to Gray.

All of this was too hard. She wasn't speaking to Jack properly, she definitely wasn't speaking to Veronica or Tom. Gray was the only really important person left in her life at the moment... besides Ann, maybe – and she wasn't going to snap at him just because Veronica made her paranoid. But at the same time, Goddess, it was _scary_ to think that there was any possible way that she could lose him. She needed him too much now, she loved him too much. And standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek with that sudden thought, it struck her just how much she _did _love him.

Fear was the only thing that was holding her back from him at all... and even that was quickly disappearing.

**xxx**

"You can't be serious –"

"Honey, you were the one to suggest sitting with them in the first place."

"But – I mean, she completely snubbed us... clearly, she doesn't want us sitting with her."

"What, you think she's just going to stand up and leave if we sit down near her? Come on. Your sister may be horribly stubborn, but she's not going to cause a scene in the middle of a crowded room."

Veronica sighed, pouting slightly. "Look... it doesn't matter. I just thought it would be nice if we could talk to them without fighting, but obviously that's not going to happen. Let them be."

"You're just going to let her think that you're a quitter?" Tom quirked an eyebrow at her, folding his arms over his chest.

"A quitter?" She almost laughed. "How am I a _quitter_? I... can't make her want to speak to me if she doesn't."

"Come on," he urged, rolling his eyes and taking her hand. He led the way over to where Jill and Gray were sitting and talking softly. Both glanced up, their faces hardening when they recognized Tom and Veronica.

"What do you want now?" the blonde asked quietly, shooting Gray a meaningful glance out of the corner of her eyes. Tom confidently slid into the seat next to her, making her jaw drop a little and Gray's clench more than a little. "What are you doing?"

"Having lunch," the dark-haired man shrugged, impossibly nonchalant. "Sit down, Veronica. So, you guys are going to be at the wedding... the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes," Jill said shortly, keeping her eyes fixed on Gray in a 'get-the-hell-rid-of-them' expression. The 'I-would-if-you-would-let-me-beat-Tom-up' expression on his own face made her scowl.

"You live here, Gray," Veronica said suddenly, reaching out to touch Gray's arm lightly. "You'd know the meals here better than anyone else, I'd imagine... want to give me some advice on what to order?"

"It's... it's all fine," he said awkwardly, noticing how Jill had tensed up the second Veronica had touched him, innocent as it had been. "Just choose whatever you feel like, I guess. I'm not an expert –"

"Oh come on," Veronica pressed, a half-smile on her face. "You're telling me that you're strong enough to shape metal... patient enough to make jewellery... and you can't recommend something for lunch?"

"Mhm," Gray managed to shoot back, grasping Jill's clenched hand under the table to stop her from breaking a certain redhaired girl's nose. "Uh... just get the salad, I guess."

"Okay!" Waving Ann over enthusiastically, she flipped her hair some and shot a none-too-subtle smile in Gray's direction.

"What can I get you?" the waitress asked dryly, leveling Veronica with the glare reserved especially for her.

"The salad," she said, laughing slightly. Tom placed his order as well, looking miraculously oblivious or unaffected by his wife's interaction with Gray. But when Ann turned to Gray and Jill, the two exchanged a glance and stood up.

"We'll... come back later," Gray offered, one arm firmly around the blonde's shoulders. The two of them walked off, leaving Veronica and Tom to look at each other exasperatedly.

"She's so damn stubborn," Veronica murmured, resting her head in one hand.

Tom took a strand of her red hair and curled it around his finger. "I'm not sure what you think flirting with her boyfriend will accomplish, to tell you the truth. Where are you going with that, exactly?"

"I'm not flirting with him," she snapped, suddenly defensive. "I'm being friendly. He and I are _friends_. God, it's not like I'm attracted to him or something!"

"Obviously," her husband smirked with a trace of distaste. "I know I keep repeating myself, but clearly you have better taste than your sister. I don't understand how a girl... who was brought up into such a respectable family can have any interest in a rough, literally worthless blacksmith."

"He's a good guy..." Veronica protested futilely. "He doesn't have much money, but he's really good to her, Tom. I wasn't... all I was saying is that _I'm _not attracted to him, not that Jill shouldn't be. He treats her so well –" she cut herself off abruptly as Tom glanced up, an eyebrow raised.

"You think the blacksmith treats her better than I treat you?"

"No, baby," she said quickly with an awkward laugh, "Don't... don't be ridiculous. He just... you _know _you treat me well. You do. It's just, he seems so... I can't explain it. Can't you see it?"

Tom was silent for a few moments before nodding slowly. "You mean he treats her well... considering how low down he is?"

"Um... yeah," she said resignedly after a long pause. "Treats her well... for a blacksmith. That's what I meant."

_Not._

**xxx**

**Right, I am SO sorry. I know this was inadequate and fillerific, I know it was probably boring and your eyes probably bled. I'm sorry I'm uninspired and busy, I'm sorry sorry sorry D:**

**Sorry. XD I'm just really annoyed with this chapter because I know I could have done better... it felt blah, but I got lazy. Next chapter though, I promise, has a big explosion, and Elli and Tim's wedding. Yeah.**


	48. Chapter 48

**Thank you so much to my reviewers. I have to go to sleep now, but I promised myself that I would update before you guys in America wake up in the morning – which means I am SO sorry, no review replies this time D: but I swear, this is like... a one-off. Forgive me?**

**A warning for language in this chapter, I guess, if you're sensitive about that. And... uh, know that everything's about to go to hell. Just to get your hopes up.**

**xxx**

Though every boy in Mineral Town would hurriedly widen his eyes and instantly deny it if you asked, there was a reasonably competitive bet going on between them to do with Elli and Tim's wedding. Well, just Elli, since Tim was 'reluctantly' in on the bet as well.

If she turned out to be more of a bridezilla than Karen had been, a newly returned Cliff, Rick and Gray were set to make a handy few G's from the opposing Tim and Jack – though it may have been more of a wishful vote on the doctor's part rather than actual belief. The reasoning behind all those who thought Elli would be a more intense bride was simply that... well, Elli had Karen behind her, didn't she? When those two were best friends, marrying one was almost like marrying both of them.

Besides... the quiet ones were always the ones to watch out for.

So you can imagine the surprise (and annoyance of Cliff, Rick and Gray) when the days leading up to the wedding were almost impossibly quiet. Elli and Karen worked on the details together and didn't really bother anybody else... to the point where Jack and Jill didn't _remember _aboutthe wedding until the morning _of_ it.

"It's okay... the wedding's not until six tonight," Jack said unsurely, biting down on his lip. "We're not late." His sister pressed both hands to her hips and tilted her head.

"Are you sure it wasn't six in the morning?"

"Have _you _ever been to a wedding at six in the morning?" he asked in a teasing but almost gentle voice. Jill blushed and rolled her eyes at him with a smile – before the two of them realized they were actually smiling at each-other and abruptly turned in opposite directions.

"Jill," Jack eventually muttered out, "Talk to me."

"About what," she replied in a monotone, physically wincing at how damn _awkward _it was between them.

"Come on! You're my painfully annoying baby sister," he growled, running one hand through his hair roughly. "I'm not going to apologize to you, because you're the one that _lied _to my _face_. But I don't... I don't want us fighting like this. It's ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous," she replied in a quiet voice. "You said some things that really hurt me."

"_You _hurt _me_!" Jack shot back instantly. "Goddess, it's not the fact that you lied – it's the fact that after he hurt you so damn much, and after how good Gray and I have been to you... you'd still lie for Tom."

"I didn't lie for Tom! I lied for _me_. I wanted to see him – I wanted to hear him explain why he did it! Why I wasn't _good enough_ for him, damn it! Is exchanging one dinner for wanting to know that much a... crime, or something? For Heaven's sake Jack, you act like it was some... big injustice to you! You were so harsh; you didn't even _want _to listen to my side of it –"

"Jill, shut up." Clenching both fists, he exhaled through his nose and leveled her with a pointed stare. "We're not going to agree, so... I think we just put it behind us."

"And you think it can just happen like that? We haven't been speaking for _weeks_."

"It has to start somewhere, doesn't it?"

There was a pause for a few brief seconds as Jill paced away from her brother. "Yeah, but... we're still gonna be mad at each other. That's not going to do any good; it just means that the next fight will be bigger and go for longer."

"Then we'll be careful that the next fight doesn't happen," he pointed out. "I'm going to somewhat overlook your stupidity, and you can overlook my... awesomeness."

Jill could only raise a reluctantly amused eyebrow. "Yeah, I'll try." She took a step towards the kitchen before hesitating and turning back. "Look, do you... do you want me to make you anything?"

"Oh Goddess," he said suddenly, his eyes widening. "I've been making you cook for yourself, haven't I? Sorry, Jill... I was mad, but I never meant to _kill _you..."

"Funny. Then... you make breakfast, and I'll... pick out some clothes you can wear to the wedding."

"Much closer to your realm of expertise," Jack nodded adamantly, watching his sister walk into his surprisingly tidy room and pull open the bureau. "Jill?"

"What?" she called in reply, holding a tie up to a shirt and tilting her head, before wrinkling her nose and putting the tie back down. He walked over so he was leaning on the doorway and staring at her.

"Thanks for this. For... trying to make things better."

"_Trying_," she pointed out plainly. "No promises, Jack. You're still angry at me and I'm still angry at you, so we're not... completely clear."

"I know." A long silence followed his words as he walked back to the kitchen; one of those horribly awkward ones in which everyone pretends to do something that has them too busy to talk. Flipping pancakes, in Jack's case – studiously choosing between a yellow and a pale green dress, in Jill's.

"Here," her brother called out eventually, setting down two plates on the small table and tilting his head slightly at Jill's predicament. "Green. The yellow's only going to clash with your hair –" he cut himself off abruptly, frowning. "Goddess, I am such a _girl_."

"Nonsense," Jill teased lightly, waving one hand and pausing for a moment. "Not all of us are good at picking out clothes. You're a _girly _girl. I pity every female who's ever fallen for you. They never had a chance, did they Jack?"

"Are you implying something?"

"Of course not." She half-smiled at how natural it felt to be speaking somewhat freely to him again. A _relief_,even. In the last few days... when she hadn't been as mad, she'd needed to constantly remind herself not to talk to her brother. The two of them just weren't meant to fight. All brothers and sisters did, of course – but serious arguments did not sit well between Jill and Jack.

**xxx**

If she had to be completely honest, Jill had thought that the end of their fight would set everything back to normal. It came as a bit of a surprise therefore, when the moment Jack and Jill walked into the church that evening, the former quickly crossed the room to take a seat between Anna and Mary – earning himself an amused scowl from Basil in the process.

Taken-aback, the blonde glanced around and opted to join her boyfriend who was nodding mechanically at Ann and had apparently been trying to catch Jill's eye for quite some time. He inclined his head urgently, apparently begging to be saved from the waitress who was talking at a mile a minute – and far too slowly, Jill realized that a quiet Cliff was standing beside her, loosely holding her hand and looking uncomfortable at the interested stares he was receiving from all around the room.

"Jill! Hi! Jeez, isn't it _beautiful_?" Ann said enthusiastically, dropping Cliff's hand as she threw both arms out wide to gesture at their surroundings. The church had been beautifully transformed with a pale blue motif in the floral arrangements and other decorations. "I think I really like the idea of blue for a wedding... I mean white, duh, but I love what Elli and Karen have done here... woah, weddings are _awesome_. But... you know what, I'm not entirely sure I want to wear a big dress... we both know I'd just trip over it –"

Jill giggled at Ann's excited attitude, while Cliff and Gray absent-mindedly registered that if the town's men were to start a similar bet on the 'ultimate bridezilla' for the next wedding, they'd both be betting a _lot_ of money on the redhead in front of them. "Will we be able to find a seat?" Jill observed suddenly, frowning at the large amount of people packed into the church. "Is the whole town here?"

"From Ellen to Stu and everybody in between," Ann nodded. "She might not be having as many bridesmaids as Karen, or a super elaborate dress, or a really fancy reception... but she definitely wants it to be a big community event all the same. Look, Won and Gotz are both here – and when was the last time either of them spoke to Elli or Tim? Probably never," she stated plainly, answering her own question. "But you're right, we should sit down."

The ceremony was simple and beautiful in every respect. Elli glowed walking down the aisle, her dark eyes sweeping the pews carefully as if she was personally thanking each and every person for being there. Tim had an uncharacteristic smile on his face the entire time, and for the couple's sake, Jill did an excellent job of ignoring Veronica and Tom – who had taken the seats right behind her after creeping in ten minutes late.

"Elli, do you promise to love Timothy; to honor and cherish him, to stand by him in sickness and in health, through good and bad, for richer or for poorer – 'til death part you?"

"I do."

Such simple words to seal such a large promise.

"And Timothy, do you promise to love Elli; to honor and cherish her, to stand by her in sickness and in health, through good and bad, for richer or for poorer 'til death part you?"

"I do."

Such simple words to seal a _lifetime_. That was what scared Jill the most about this whole marriage deal. Not because she didn't trust Gray – truth be told, she trusted him more than perhaps anyone else in her life. Not because she didn't _want _to marry him; there wasn't anybody else in the world she could see herself with anymore. It was because – knowing all the mistakes she often made, and the consequences that came with them – it scared her beyond belief to recognize that it took two words; two _syllables _to shape a lifetime.

It just didn't make sense... that something so big could be so easy to do.

"You okay?" Gray murmured, frowning at the petite blonde as Tim and Elli kissed, sealing their marriage. All at once Jill realized that she was almost certainly cutting off all circulation to Gray's hand with her vice-like grip on it.

"Sorry," she whispered back, smiling some and applauding as a beaming Elli and Tim walked down the aisle, arms linked. "Uh, the... what do we do now?"

"You're really out of it," he pressed, pushing her hair back from her face. "The reception... everybody's meeting at the inn to have dinner in half an hour. Are you... sure you're okay?"

"I'm _fine_," Jill insisted with a half-smile. "I just... it was a beautiful ceremony. I... yeah. Ann!" She waved thankfully at the hassled looking redhead, who hurried over with Cliff trailing somewhere behind. "You look stressed."

"Stressed? Really? I just realized that Dad came to the wedding... y'know, instead of beginning to prepare dinner for _thirty people_... and I've got to get back and do it now, and you're wasting my time!"

"Thanks," the blonde said dryly. "Do you want me to come help cook?"

Ann couldn't fully disguise the grimace that crossed her face. "Look, if _Jack_ wants to come and help, that'd be great –"

"I can do it –"

"No, really," Ann said, her eyes widening. "Go, uh... fix your hair."

"My hair?" Jill asked self-conciously, raising one hand to her head. "My – what's wrong with my hair?" She scurried off without waiting for an answer, leaving Ann more stressed than she had been before their little conversation.

**xxx**

"I am a miracle worker," Ann proclaimed an hour and a half later, throwing herself down into the chair beside Jill with her hands extended out wide. "Don't ask how I did it, but I did. Bow down before me. Build statues of me. And the food was nice, right?"

"Yeah," Jill shrugged, tilting her head a little. "It was nice." Her eyes suddenly widened at the murderous expression on Ann's face. "I mean... sublime."

"Aw, you're sweet! And now..." she couldn't stop the excited smile from spreading across her face, "I get to _clean it all up_." There was a noticeable bounce in her step as she skipped away.

Jill let her gaze wander as Elli and Tim walked to the center of the room, no doubt to give some speeches. She wasn't sure _who _was cruel enough to make it happen, but when she'd arrived at the inn and looked for her place card it had been a horrifying realization to see the other five people on her table. Gray and Jack, who were obviously fine, and Zack, who had apparently been placed on their table for a lack of anywhere else to put him. But that was fine by her as well.

No no, some idiot had decided to put _Veronica_ in the seat right besideJill, and Tom in the seat beside Veronica. Zack was very much keeping to himself, Gray was very much keeping Jill from clawing at her sister's face, and a good-for-nothing Jack had vanished to goodness knows where the second he was finished with his meal. Thank the Goddess, Veronica and Tom were keeping to themselves for now... but every time the redhead's arm brushed against her sister's accidentally, Jill winced.

"Hi everyone," Elli called out, the room instantly falling quiet. "Tim and I want to thank you for being here for us today... it's a huge day for us, obviously, and we're thrilled that we get to share that."

Jill suddenly located Jack in the crowd, frowning somewhat as she realized he'd been quick to slip into the seat beside Mary. _Mary_?

"Marriage is a huge step... but I know that neither of us would have taken it if we weren't _both _completely ready for it."

The blonde felt her frown deepen in confusion as she watched the pair across the room. Mary was trying her hardest not to smile and pay attention to Elli as Jack played with her hair – to no avail, the sparkle in her eyes betraying the straight line of her mouth.

"Are those two together?" she whispered to Gray suddenly, nudging the blacksmith's arm as Jack leaned forward, saying something into Mary's ear that quickly made the librarian blush. How much had she missed while she had been fighting with Jack? She knew he _liked _Mary quite some time ago, though she hadn't known if the feelings were reciprocated... but now the two of them were acting almost like a couple. She could see Anna watching the pair with a delighted smile; Basil watching the pair with a careful kind of approval.

"I don't... think so," he muttered back slowly, his own face confused as his gaze travelled over them. "Or if they are, it's very... _very _recent."

"She just giggled," Jill announced in shock. "Mary just giggled. _Mary _just giggled. Mary doesn't giggle – Mary doesn't giggle! Mary just giggled!"

"I saw," the blacksmith said dryly, rolling his eyes somewhat. "Does it matter?"

"But he's... Jack," she said anxiously. "If she likes him... and he's just playing around... he's going to hurt her, and I don't want that to happen."

"Jack cares about her."

"How would you know that?" Jill scoffed. Jack was her big brother, and as much as she loved him, she knew his bad points just as well as his good points. He was a serial flirt

"He told me," Gray shrugged, taking a sip of his drink and almost choking it back out as Jill grabbed his arm.

"When? Why? Why wasn't I told?"

"About a month ago, because he wanted advice, and because we both know how wonderful you are at keeping secrets."

"A month," Jill murmured, almost to herself. "Really? He's never... never been interested in anyone for that long before."

"That librarian?" Veronica jumped in suddenly, making Jill's posture tighten and fists clench. "Oh, he's crazy about her. I think he'll fall in love with her, if you ask me."

"Did everyone know this except me?" Jill snapped, shooting her brother a fierce glare. Jack glanced up for a moment and looked frightened when he made eye-contact with an extremely annoyed looking Jill. Zack got up from the table suddenly, making his way over to an empty seat beside Lillia.

"Come on darling. Dance with me," Tom interrupted smoothly, easing himself out of his chair and holding a hand out to help his wife up. Jill wrinkled her nose at the pair of them and leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest.

**xxx**

"Yeah, she's pretty," Veronica growled at her husband indignantly as he twirled her. "You wanna reattach your jaw now?"

"Hmm?" Tom retorted, tearing his gaze away from Mary, who had an attractive smile on her face as she laughed and danced with her father. "Did you say something?"

"No," she snapped. God, he didn't even try to hide it! Then again... their relationship had always been that way. He would unashamedly stare at any girl with a face full of makeup, flat stomach or a fake chest, usually _winking _at said girl right in front of his wife. Admittedly, he didn't get too annoyed if Veronica raised an eyebrow at a particularly good-looking man – probably because his damn ego wouldn't let him consider any man as more attractive than himself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Gray gently pulling Jill to her feet and walking her onto the dance floor. He was so ridiculously careful with her – like she was precious; irreplaceable. His whole world.

Nobody had _ever_ looked at Veronica like that.

She'd had constant male attention since she was old enough to appreciate it, for heaven's sake. There had been a handful of guys who hadn't bothered, of course, usually because they were either family or too shy to dream about talking to her. But she'd heard every lame pickup line and received every suggestive glance. Wannabe musicians had written songs for her; hopeless romantics had left flowers on her doorstep. Her damn husband had left his childhood girlfriend for her!

Somehow... Jillian had _still _got the better end of the deal. Jill, who had only ever been with one boy, and never really had a bunch of them after her. Jill, who was uncoordinated, who was below average in most academics, who couldn't sing to save herself, who... had beyond uncontrollable hair without her straightener. The list could go on forever. Jill lived on a farm in a place so far out it couldn't even be classified as rural. Veronica and Tom lived in an expensive apartment in the high upper-class part of their city.

But Veronica had someone who – she hoped – loved her. And Jill had been the one to find someone _in _love with her.

And you know what? It was downright un-freaking-fair.

"Shit," Tom murmured suddenly, a half-smile creeping across his face. "That girl with the pink hair – she's got a pair of legs on her. I haven't seen her in a short dress before."

"How the hell do you find it appropriate to _say _that to me?" Veronica exploded suddenly, her frustration spilling over. "God Tom, you shouldn't even be _thinking_ crap like that, let alone saying it to your damn wife!"

"You wanna cause a bigger scene?" he hissed, ducking down to her ear-level as a select few people around them turned, interested. "Calm the hell down. I was just saying –"

"I know what you were saying," she said defiantly, ignoring the way his grip on her waist tightened. Thankfully – for both of them – Elli's voice piped up again, making the room quiet down.

"Okay guys, can we mix it up a little bit for the next few dances? All you couples are lovely together, but... I'll be dancing with my darling husband for the rest of my life, so right now, I'm tempted to have a few songs with somebody else." She stuck her tongue out sweetly at Tim whose arms were crossed over his chest with a half-glare, half-smile on his face, but the doctor started to laugh reluctantly as Stu ran up to his big sister in a bid for the first dance with her.

"You heard the woman," Tom said coldly, releasing his angry wife. "Find someone else to dance with." And without another word, he turned on his heel and walked confidently to where Jill and Gray were standing, ignoring the taller blacksmith and directing a low, "For old time's sake?" at the shocked blonde, not even waiting for an answer as he pulled her away from her disbelieving boyfriend.

"Tom, what are you doing?" Jill mumbled, not quite daring to look at Gray's face across the room. "This isn't appropriate –"

"Screw appropriate," he snarled. "Your damn sister's so sensitive. I can't do anything right." His face softened somewhat, as did his grip on Jill's hand. "It was never like that with you. You were really good about things like that... you never got jealous or suspicious."

"Yeah, well, look where that got me."

"Jill... come on," he pleaded as she started to pull away. "One dance, as friends. I don't mean anything by it... it's harmless. Come on."

She could only stare at him for a few moments, her head racing as she weighed up his words. Just friends; that much was certain – though, she didn't really think of Tom as a friend, when compared to people like Ann and Rick. People who hadn't hurt her.

But... Goddess, petty as it was, the temptation to irritate her sister was almost unbearable. Just a little... it couldn't do any harm.

Veronica was watching the pair with her mouth slightly open at her idiot husband's nerve. Her eyes rose to meet Gray's across the room, staring back at her in bewilderment.

_Why_ should Jill get him? It was obvious that Gray cared for her more than she cared for him. Hell, for all anyone knew, the girl was probably still pining over Tom. By the looks of it, that was the situation exactly.

So from Veronica's perspective, this was how things stood. Gray was in love with Jill, Jill was in love with Tom. Tom was married to Veronica, but somehow felt it appropriate to dance and flirt with his ex-girlfriend at a wedding. And Veronica... well. She could have a little fun of her own, right?

And that was why, within the space of ten seconds, she'd crossed the room and tilted her head to shoot Gray a knowing smile. "Nice of them, huh?"

"Why the hell is he touching her?" he managed out through gritted teeth. "I'm going to go over there and snap his neck if he –"

"Right, um, calm down," Veronica said quickly. As annoyed as she was with Tom, she didn't have any particular desire to see him actually dead. "Look... at least we know that everyone dancing at the moment is only dancing as friends. You know, since Elli split all the couples up... I mean..." her smile changed, a touch flirtatious now. "Jill's an idiot if she'd consider dancing with him over you for a second."

"Apparently she's an idiot then," Gray muttered, completely oblivious to Veronica's charms. But as Jill made eye-contact with him for a moment, shooting an apologetic glance over Tom's shoulder, the blacksmith couldn't help but smile back. "I guess I knew that when I fell for her."

"Mhm. Cute," Veronica said quickly, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Her hinting was doing nothing for her... time to get straight to the point. "Hey... we're friends, right?"

Gray shot her a funny glance. "Yeah..."

"Well, if they're allowed to dance together... I say we are, too. Okay?"

"I... uh... I don't know," he said, frowning. "Wouldn't that be kind of weird?"

"Weird?" the redhead scoffed, planting both hands firmly on her hips. "Which is weirder? Two friends dancing together... or a married man dancing with his ex-girlfriend of thirteen years, right in front of _his_ wife and _her_ boyfriend?"

"..."

"That's right," Veronica continued, the slightest smirk on her face as she held out one hand. "Besides... if you dance with me, it'll probably irritate Tom..."

"Come on," he growled instantly, closing her tiny hand in his and pulling her to the floor, where Mineral Town's most randomly mismatched couples were dancing together. Stu had left his sister for Ann, and Elli was now awkwardly stuck with Won – who seemed to be using their 'dancing' as an excuse to hold her still while he told her about various tablecloths and vases from his shop that each and every couple _needed_ if they wanted their marriage to survive.

So _maybe_ Veronica was showing off a little as she danced with Gray. _Maybe _she was putting in the effort because she wanted to piss Tom off. _Maybe _she was a little attracted to the blacksmith. _Maybe _she was conveniently ignoring the way all the color had drained from Jill's face the second Veronica and Gray had started dancing. But mostly... mostly, she was just enjoying this. It was new; exciting. This man wasn't her husband – he was rough and gentle, blunt but considerate.

He was almost _perfect_...

But he wasn't hers. And still, it kept coming back to her just how unfair that fact was.

**xxx**

"She's not allowed to touch you ever again," Jill whispered, her eyes suspiciously bright as she tugged on Gray's jacket. "Okay?"

"Fine," he promised, pulling her into a rough hug. "But Tom's never allowed to _look _at you ever again."

"I didn't mean to... I didn't know what to do, he just..."

"I know."

Jill stood up on her tiptoes to reach Gray, pulling him down so she could place a quick kiss on his cheek. "I love you..."

"You too," he said, his voice sounding distant and preoccupied enough to concern the petite blonde.

She... trusted Gray, really. But at random moments, there were things that raised her suspicions about him and her sister... and she'd just run smack-bang into a big one. It wasn't that they were dancingtogether – it was how perfect they looked together _while_ they were dancing. Two unfairly attractive redheads, and... Goddess...

There had been _chemistry _between them. There had been an... attraction, and that in itself was more than enough to cope with. Maybe it was one-sided; maybe it was all Veronica, but there was _something_,damn it. And Jill knew first hand that if Veronica wanted something... well. She'd get it, wouldn't she?

"Look, come sit down," Gray's voice said, cutting into Jill's thoughts. "I don't... yeah."

She blindly followed him, her hand finding his, desperate for contact. Because as long as she was holding onto him, she wasn't letting him go – and letting him go was something she had no intention of doing. Ever.

Maybe... she _could _marry him. If he were to turn around this second and drop to one knee, in front of all these people... she was fairly certain that she'd say yes. The idea was confronting, especially with her reasonably anti-marriage-before-late-twenties view, but... this was Gray, and for some reason that made everything different. She'd heard people saying that they 'couldn't live without' someone, and truthfully, she didn't believe that. She probably could live without Gray.

The thing was, she didn't _want_ to live without him. So the next time... the next time the subject of marriage came up, maybe she could drop a couple of hints that her... views had changed slightly. Not to say she couldn't wait a few months, or a year, or two years... but she didn't think that she could ever love him more than she did now.

Then again, she thought that every day... and every day, she found something that made her fall for him even harder.

Basically, to quote something she'd heard a long time ago; once she'd loved Gray because she needed him. Now, she needed him because she loved him.

So... she could stop all this jealous nonsense. If he felt the same way about her that she did about him, there was nothing for her to worry about.

Of course, plain logic could never erase all doubt.

"Yay," the blonde said quietly, narrowing her eyes somewhat as Veronica and Tom came back to the table as well. The pair were speaking quietly but obviously arguing; her voice was coming out in annoyed hisses and he was blatantly rolling his eyes at everything she said, giving her short answers and smirking arrogantly.

"Bastard," Veronica managed to mutter none too quietly, throwing herself down into the seat beside Jill once more.

Tom replied with a word that made his wife's fists clench in frustration, before sitting himself down and smiling across the table at Jill. "Nice dancing with you, sweetheart."

"God, _why _do you have to –" Veronica started, going off in another rant. She was actually getting extremely angry, and watching Jill and Gray – never fighting, perfect couple – just sitting there as if Tom and Veronica didn't exist, holding their own little lovey-dovey conversation – ugh. It was _not _calming her down, she could truthfully say that much.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't freak out and crack it at me so much," Tom said, too casually to sound sincere. "It's kind of a reminder of just how young you are."

"I'm barely four years younger than you, jerk!" the redhead exploded, slamming one self-manicured hand down on the table.

"And when you're throwing tantrums in public places, it seems more like twenty years."

"Look, would you just get out of my sight? Go upstairs?" she whispered, her cheeks flushing a deep red to match her hair. "Seriously, it's like you're going out of your way just to make me angry tonight, and you are doing an _excellent _job of it. It's moments like this that I have to wonder why I married you Tom, really."

"Nice to know, honey." He rose from the table, bestowing another unwanted smile on Jill before turning and walking upstairs.

"Mmph," Veronica groaned exasperatedly, bringing her head down to rest on her hands. "Why does he get so damn irritating?" She glanced up at Gray and half-smiled. "I just... don't like it when he acts like he doesn't care about a word I'm saying, you know? It feels like I could ask for a divorce and he'd just smile at me, all condescending and say, 'Sure, anything else darling?' ... it's frustrating."

"As long as you love him, I guess," Gray said quietly.

"You wouldn't be interested on giving him lessons... on how to be a good partner, would you?" Veronica laughed, only half joking. "I think he needs to be a lot more like you, truthfully."

"I'd love to... but I might accidentally punch his face in the second you leave me alone with him," Gray said dryly, suddenly blinking down at Jill who was slowly turning a peculiar shade of purple. "Jill, are you... breathing?"

She blinked up at him and delivered a simple remark. "I need a drink."

Gray scoffed. "You are _not_ drinking. Alcohol, at least. You know you can't handle it."

"I'll die of dehydration!" she wailed, pouting at him. He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Ever heard of water?"

"... Okay smart guy," she glowered, smiling some as he got to his feet and delivered a kiss on her forehead. "You going to get my water now?"

"What'd your last slave die of," he muttered in mock-resentment, walking over to the bar.

"You guys are amazing," Veronica gushed suddenly, making Jill's gaze snap over to her almost violently. "_He's_ amazing. You're really lucky to have him."

"I'm aware."

"No... I don't think you are," she said thoughtfully, speaking to herself more than to her irritated sister. "I don't think you really understand _how _lucky you are. I mean, Tom's... Tom. Typical city guy I guess. He –"

"I know a hell of a lot more about Tom than you do," Jill said quietly, not even bothering to be polite. "I've been with him five times longer than you have, if you didn't realize. I know he's a selfish jerk. I know most things about him, and yeah, I feel sorry for you. Kind of. End of discussion."

"I'm jealous of you," the redhead confessed, ignoring the way Jill's eyes somehow widened and narrowed all at once. "Well... not of _you_, but of what the two of you have. I mean, let's face it. Gray's an incredible guy. I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like him."

"What a shame," Jill said through gritted teeth, glancing over her shoulder. What the heck was taking Gray so – aw, damn it. She exhaled slowly as she saw her boyfriend trapped over near the bar by Manna, who was talking at a hundred miles an hour. He wasn't going to be back for awhile.

"Honestly Jill, I have no idea how you got so lucky. The fact that you came here, of all places... that in itself is kind of a miracle, because I can guarantee you that you wouldn't find a guy like him anywhere else on earth –"

Jill finally cracked. "Goddess, do you want to make it any more _obvious _that you have the hots for my boyfriend? _Again_?"

"That isn't what I said," Veronica told her, rolling her eyes. "I'm just saying, jeez. Well... yeah, I mean, he's gorgeous. Like, really, really hot. But there's just something else about him, you know?" She bit her lip, searching for the words. "It's like... he's special. Like when you talk to him, he's genuinely listening and not just waiting 'till he can get you –"

"What the _hell_, Veronica? Are you having a freaking affair with him or something?" Jill exploded furiously.

Even Veronica herself wasn't entirely sure what was going through her mind at that moment. Jealousy. Envy, first and foremost. Jill _obviously _didn't love Gray as much as he loved her. Jill didn't deserve that love if she wasn't willing to give it back. Jill wouldn't marry him, would she? She couldn't want him. She couldn't love him. She couldn't deserve him.

Whatever it was that pushed her to it, she couldn't stop herself as she tilted her head and smiled, shrugging somewhat.

"Maybe."

**xxx**

Sick. Jill felt sick; that much she knew.

She was drunk; completely intoxicated without a drop of alcohol. Her world was spinning, her stomach was heaving – she was going to throw up. She was going to break something; she was going to kill someone. She was going to _die_.

Veronica was smirking, _smirking _as she sat there across the table and watched her sister's heart break. It wasn't just an expression apparently; Jill could _feel_ it. Little men with little sledge hammers, chipping away at the outsides of her heart while a larger one crushed the center in one agonizingly painful hit.

No. No. No no no no no.

_What_ did she just _say_?

Veronica hadn't said maybe, no, she hadn't. Jill had heard her wrong. Veronica had said 'Of course not! How ridiculous!' That was why she was smiling now, wasn't it? It was ridiculous, so ridiculous. Gray wouldn't... Gray couldn't. Gray _loved _her, didn't he?

"What... did you say?" Jill whispered, her throat constricted. Her eyes were frightening to look into – such a blue, such a _bright _blue. Her eyes were begging Veronica. _Take it back, take it back. Lie if you need to; just __**take it back**__. Please, please._

"I said maybe," Veronica retorted surely. "It's not such a big deal."

Her stomach twisted again, and somewhere in the back, the deepest corner of her mind, Jill registered how hard it was to stare at someone through unseeing eyes. How hard it was to check for the truth. _But she has no reason to lie_. Apparently a broken heart can break again.

"Bitch," she managed, trembling to her feet, pointing at Veronica with a shaking hand. "You bitch, you _bitch_."

_Hit her Jill, slap her, kill her._

She didn't touch her. She stumbled across the room, towards the door. She ran into people on her way – it didn't matter, they didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

"Are you okay?"

"Is she okay?"

"Is she sick?"

"Goddess, she doesn't look well."

"What's wrong?"

She was outside, now. Maybe she was dreaming. She hadn't been to Elli's wedding, she hadn't seen Jack and Mary together, she hadn't danced with Tom, she hadn't watched Veronica dance with Gray –

As his name came into his head, her stomach surrendered and she staggered, dropping to her hands and knees, choking up everything she had in her. Sick and tears. When had she started crying?

"Jill?" Gray's voice was anxious as the doors of the inn flew open and he dropped to his knees beside her, touching her face. "Are you okay? What's wrong, darling?"

She couldn't breathe. That made enough sense. You needed your heart to breathe, didn't you?

"Talk to me, Jill... what's wrong? Tim – _TIM!_ Jill's sick!"

"_No_." That wasn't her voice, was it? She'd meant to yell it, but she'd barely managed a whisper. Gray fell silent, leaning in closer, his hand brushing back her sweaty bangs. _Stop touching me. Don't touch me, you bastard._

"What did you say?"

"No."

"No? No, you're not sick? Tell me what's wrong –"

"Don't touch me," she managed to gasp out. "Goddess _damn it_, don't you touch me. Ever."

"Sweetheart, you're delusional –"

She cursed at him violently; _there _was the strength in her voice. "I've been delusional for months. You said you _loved _me."

"Jill," he choked, agonized, confused. "I do love you. I love you so much –"

"Liar." She staggered to her feet. "Liar! You promised, you promised me!"

"_What, _Jill? I haven't broken any promise!"

"You're still _lying_," she breathed, her voice back to an almost inaudible volume.

She reached out suddenly, touching his jacket, grasping tightly it she pulled him down to whisper in his ear.

"I'll _never_ forgive you."

Gray was shaking, trying to hold on to her. He was crying. _Good_. "I don't understand," he begged. "What are you – are you breaking up with me?"

"No," she said quietly, starting to walk back towards the farm. Which direction was the farm in? She glanced back over her shoulder at him; a small group of alarmed people had gathered behind Gray, blocking the doorway of the inn. "As far as I'm concerned," Jill heard herself saying, in a voice that sounded much too steady, "_You_ just broke up with _me_."

**xxx**

**Yeah... this is gonna be bad. Cookie for the person who thinks up the most creative way to kill Veronica.**


	49. Chapter 49

**Look, guys, I underestimated how experienced you all were at thinking up ways to kill people, so I gave in and just baked a big platter of cookies. Distribute them amongst yourselves.**

**Okay, well... obviously an apology is in order. I AM SO SORRY. My life has been... hectic, for lack of a better excuse. I've been uninspired with the story, but I snapped back to it on Saturday (ironically right when two big assignments needed to be done.. of course) and just... got the (ridiculously short) chapter done. My inspiration has returned ^^**

**HollowedRyanMan – **Haha! Oh goodness, if that's your idea of a suitable punishment, remind me NEVER to get on your bad side :|

**The Scarlet Sky – **Believe me, nothing Veronica does can make me really hate her. I... sympathize with her, I guess, as you know xD. Tom, on the other hand... *mutter* and to tell you the truth, I don't think I want muuuch JackxMary drama. I've got to let someone be happy, right? (Emphasis on the MUUUCH, of course.)

**xxPurpelicious – **LOL. I'll bring in a bitchy OC to kill off a bitchy OC, then? And how would I kill off this Amanda? XD

**xTrueEmotion –** Aww, you have no idea how much I would love to make this story into a movie ^^. But I'm glad you think it would make a good one, because that's kind of the career path I want to follow... it's nice to know my stories could maybe one day be transferred to screen :)

**Smash Genesis – **Dancing the hula? What a way to go. It's nice to see a bit – or a lot – of originality in these death threats (either that, or deeply disturbing. I haven't made up my mind yet xD)

**AsianFlipGurl – **No, it wasn't fair of Tom at all. But then again, as you say, it wasn't remotely fair of Veronica either xD. See... Veronica kind of has this idea that Tom won't take her seriously when she flirts with other guys, like he doesn't really care. It's kind of a getting back at him thing, as well as breaking up Gray and Jill. Sorry it took so long to update ^^

**alberne Maedchen – **Exactly... and believe me, Veronica WILL be forced to face up to what she's done. Of course. *Compulsive Happy Ending writer.* And in regards to Jack and Mary, they're still not out in the open because Mary doesn't want to deal with her mother's overbearing nonsense :)

**Jean Cooper – **Ah... yeah, about you only giving me one week to update... xD uh oh. Try two months...? Urgh. I don't know how it took me this long . you are to harass me in future if it ever takes me this long again!

**DoubleKK – **Ah, you are a sweetheart in every possible meaning of the word ^^ thank you very much for the too kind compliments. And the extremely amusing rant about Veronica. And I hope you had so so so SO much fun in Hawaii! I will be blogging as soon as I get this chapter up... if I ever do v.v

**Quartet – **Thanks very much, and sorry I didn't update 'tomorrow' as you so enthusiastically insisted XD. You're completely on the right track with your views of Jill's situation.. that's exactly how I see it myself.

**Cryptic Love – **Yeahhh, I don't think Veronica has a huge amount of fangirls and fanboys right now. Maybe potential murderers, but... haha. Oh my goodness, remind me to NEVER get into a situation where you have to punish me for something O.O I almost felt sorry for Veronica, reading what you would do to her. Lmao.

**Alice – **Aw, I'm sorry you finished your read of the story on such a sad note ^^ but keep in mind that I'm a big fan of Happily Ever After endings.

**Baltimore baby – **Well I'm very very glad that you've chosen to review now :) thanks so much, glad you're enjoying the story.

**Ekoaleko – **o.O so you're another person that I have to watch out for. Seriously, if I ever move to America, and commit some kind of crime, and see you up there on the jury or as a judge... I may as well BEG for a life sentence xD. Though the idea of Veronica being eaten by a tractor had me giggling for days. Thanks so much :D

**Ouch – **True that. Thank you very much :)

**britteny spears – **Thank you, hope you kept reading after that!

**White Rose Phantom – **Haha, mutant flying monkeys from Pluto. I like both your ideas very much... though it looks like the second one could potentially happen xD thanks for reviewing and sorry about the wait.

**Starlight Amethyst – **So... you don't want the 'We Love Veronica' t-shirt? :P it's nice to see people are creative enough to come up with not one, not two, but three or four different ways to kill the poor woman xD.

**Kia – **You have no idea how much reviews like yours make me smile. Make sure you let me know if you write any stories of your own; I'd be happy to read them!

**EzMouse – **Of COURSE I remember you, my little student! ^^ although your I HATE TOM spam was a good memory refresher, haha. Don't worry for a second about the drop in reviews; I totally understand what being busy with school and commitments in life. There are stories that I absolutely love that I haven't had the time to review for AGES, and sometimes I can't even find the time to read them. And I WILL be writing that other story, with a few changes.. I'm super excited for it, actually :D thanks for coming back!

**melii101 – **LOL, I like your reaction. 'OMG WHAAAAT DID SHE JUST DO?' Veronica's just a selfish, slightly deranged human being... who really doesn't have all that much sympathy for her poor sister :( and so sorry that I didn't exactly get to 'update soon'.

**Random Jelly Beans - ***packs Veronica up and sends her to you to take care of.* Gray is insanely in love with Jill, and he's going to have a really difficult time for awhile. Then again, Jill's insanely in love with him too and she thinks he's gone and cheated on her with her SISTER... so she's not exactly having a picnic in the park either. xD.

**Miss Psychic Lady – **Melted deodorant? :S interesting... UGH, I can't think of anything worse than being dropped down an elevator shaft. I think that's the last way I would ever ever want to die. Just... as a little piece of HmGirly trivia, I guess xD. So Veronica's going to have to do something MUCH worse for me to kill her that way, lmao.

**Omgomgomgomg – **haha, thanks so much!

**Kawaii! -** It's lovely of you to say so. I hope you kept reading after chapter 4 and continued enjoying it :D

**Moomoo – **OH. I like that idea. Go and find me twenty rabid Graire fangirls to let loose on Veronica (even if one or two could probably do the job xD.)

**RedSkyes – **Made you CRY? Really? I should probably feel bad when I do make people cry, but the truth is it makes me suuuuper happy... because at least I'm getting some emotion across, huh? :) We'll see if we can fit Veronica into a cheese grater. Thanks very much :P

**DemonDude12 – **Heh... you thought the last chapter was short, you're NOT going to be happy about this one :| but at least it's an update, right? Right? *innocent smile* Yeah, I'm deciding on how BIG a bitch Karma is going to be to Veronica on this one. I've got a few ideas... but she'll get hers, so don't worry.

**Black Rabbit-Chan – **How could... Tom hate her for the rest of her life if Gray already killed her? I guess he could hate her for the rest of her death xD. I agree, BAD VERONICA. Thank you for reviewing!

**Chocobo86 – **It's okay, Veronica and Tom aren't going to stay forever. I can tell you that much. Hehe, well, if Gray and Jill don't get back together I promise you can have him ^^ so you'd better go kill Jill or something (rhymes!)

**Melody – **Aww, I just love new reviewers who have been enjoying the story. I can't believe it took a whole week to finish reading (and then again, it's taken two years to get to this point... so I can't talk) thanks so much for reviewing.

**Encouragingyouth – **Evil Genius... I like it. I like it a lot. I can't believe you've only played Harvest Moon once! Either it's absolutely ridiculously brilliant, or I'm just pathetically sadly addicted to the game. I'm also really glad I could make you laugh... that's something I love to hear; that I can make people either laugh or cry. Hope you continue reading and enjoying! :D

**Active Gal – **. Okay, I'm not asking you to join the Veronica fanclub either xD. I truly loved every piece of your highly enthusiastic review, and I have to admit it made me laugh out loud more than once. Thank you very, very, VERY much... and I hope you're still reading this, even though I definitely realize how long it took me to update ^^.

**alisonclmbs –** I'm sure your temporary sympathy for Veronica disappeared very and extremely quickly XD. She's not a very nice person most of the time. To put it lightly. LOL, I like the images of Jack and Gray ambushing Tom with a baseball bat. He definitely deserves it.

**Malaysia baby – **Aww, not sure I'll ACTUALLY kill her. But I'm glad you're liking the story so much :D

**Katrina Tora – **Ah, you and I both know that as long as it involves flying monkeys... it doesn't have to make sense. Thanks so much for the review xD.

**Inferno232 – **With those ingredients for torture, I can plan it out myself xD. Your view on Jill is really interesting and I'm glad you pointed it out – and I totally see where you're coming from, even if I have a slightly different perspective on it. Maybe Jill's point of view will become a little clearer, maybe it won't, but I really appreciate having honest feedbacks from a variety of opinions :D and I can't disagree, I feel EXTREMELY sorry for Gray being caught in the middle.

**Kaiser Einrich – **I have first hand WITNESSED hell break loose with a 'Yes' 'No' or 'Maybe', so I can tell you that it certainly does happen xD. I should probably mention how excited I was to see one of your lovely reviews in my inbox, by the way. And next time I'm talking to a sleazy guy anywhere, I assure you I will call him Tom in the middle of a heated argument. If only to see the look of utter confusion on his face. I ACTUALLY had a story called Mary's Novel up here about two years ago, believe it or not. And then I took it off because it was horrendously embarrassing... but if you're super lucky, I'll sporadically write random pieces of the novel and post wherever xD. And 50 chapters? Are you kidding me? You REALLY think I could finish this thing by the next chapter? Come on, think logically man xD.

**JrocksAnime – **Nawwwwwwwwww. It's amusing that you people actually manage to make me feel reasonably sorry for Veronica XD - then again... she's pretty much scum right now, yeees? I'll hurry with the reconciliation... meybe. Haha, it won't take TOO long. Meybe. :P

**Wienner Sinclaire – **Yeah, I wouldn't particularly raise my hand to play any kind of card game with Veronica either; at least if there was a chance that I could lose money. The girl is a GOOD liar. And I'm glad I could help in... you knowing... that Popuri has nice legs :S

**SweetBlosson5 – **Thanks so much ^^ I don't think you're quite finished the story yet (unless you read EXCEPTIONALLY fast) but when you get to this chapter... well, thanks very much for reviewing beforehand :D

**xxx**  
_So we've put an end to it this time.  
I'm no longer yours,  
And you're no longer mine. _

It was two in the afternoon, and his little sister still hadn't gotten out of bed.

Now, _maybe _that wasn't a cause for concern. Jack had seen Jill sleep in this late quite a few times over the course of her young life – but today, he had an uneasy feeling about it. She had made her way home without him last night, and he'd heard it mentioned vaguely that she was sick, that she'd been crying. But when he finally did get home... she was already in bed, though not asleep. She sat up when he walked in.

"_Are you okay?" He'd asked, frowning slightly at her pale, delicate looking face._

_She blinked up at him with eyes that seemed far too big on such a small person, an empty expression on her face. "Sure, Jack. Never been better."_

Something had happened, but he let it go. How could he step in now and try to make her tell him – they hadn't been talking for weeks; he wasn't going to force his way into her personal life _now _of all times. And once again, he wasn't even sure that something was seriously wrong. Maybe she was just a little unwell. But nevertheless...

"Jill?" Jack said, timidly pushing her hair back from her sleeping face and noticing with distaste that it was damp with sweat. He leaned over and gripped her shoulders, shaking her somewhat. "Jill. Wake up."

She jolted suddenly, turning her head to the side and giving a violent cough as her brother jumped back. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly as he approached her again, gripping her clammy hand and making her look at him. "You're not sick, are you?"

There was a long silence as Jill stared at him, her eyebrows raised. "What time is it?"

"About two."

"Oh." She nodded vaguely and exhaled, before lying down and pulling the covers back over her head.

"... Jill." He didn't receive a reply from the apparently lethargic pile of blankets. "Two in the _afternoon_, in case you didn't catch that."

"I don't feel like getting up today," she said simply.

"You're just... not going to get up? At all?" He grabbed the blankets back, narrowing his eyes. "You're a mess today. I say we go to the clinic."

"I say we _don't_." She pulled them over her again.

He pulled them back. "Jill –"

"Stop!" she choked suddenly, clenching her fists and looking completely defeated with a single tear trickling down her cheek as she stared at her legs. Jack dropped the blankets, more than a little surprised that she seemed genuinely upset. She reached up for the covers and took them again, lying down and curling up silently as her brother left the room without another word.

_Now _he was worried.

**xxx**

"You're stressing about something, love."

"Like you care," Veronica snapped back, glaring at her husband from where she was sitting cross-legged on their bed. He was seated at the small table across the room, typing quickly on a laptop that was plugged into a power outlet that was basically hanging out of the wall by its wiring.

"No... I really don't," he said casually, flipping the lid down. "I just thought you wanted me to notice you've cracked it over something. I mean, if you didn't want me to comment, you'd _probably _be doing a slightly better job of hiding it."

His wife folded her arms over her chest, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "Aren't we Mister Perceptive today?"

"Aren't we Miss Obvious today?"

Veronica slowly brought one hand up to her chin, subtly clamping her mouth to keep herself from yelling at him in frustration. "Okay, so you realized _so_ quickly that I'm not in a good mood... and I'm just wondering here how long it's going to take for you to realize that you need to shut_ up_!" Her voice had started out relatively calm and was now bordering on hysterical. "I swear, you're such an idiot sometimes –"

"I don't know what's wrong with you at the moment, but I honestly hope you haven't deluded yourself into thinking I'll stick around and wait it out. I'll leave – and you know I will – so I suggest you quit with the princess act and start acting like a normal woman." A long pause followed as Tom casually opened his laptop up again and resumed his work. "Though... maybe with a little less of the 'woman' side – that may well be the whole problem," he tacked on with a half-smirk.

Veronica's nails may well have melted into oblivion considering the intensity of the glare she was focusing on them. _Killing him would be wrong. Killing him would be wrong. _"Maybe I should go out for a little while," she said dryly, unfolding her long legs and standing up.

"I hope you're not going out in public wearing that skirt."

"What's wrong with it?" she asked, twisting herself and standing on her toes to try see her reflection in the room's tiny mirror. "Is it too short?"

"No..." Tom breezed, tilting his head at the computer screen for a moment before hitting a single key. "It's just ugly. I can't believe there's no Internet access in this pla-"

The door had slammed before he could finish his sentence. Veronica's high-heels had never hit the ground so hard, clicking in a steady, audibly agitated rhythm down the stairs and out of the inn. The _nerve _of that man! God, sometimes she felt like just up and leaving for long enough to scare him senseless. He'd been so kind to her at the start of their relationship – hadn't he? He must have. Sure, they'd never had the kind of relationship that Jill and Gray –

Ugh. A mild wave of guilt washed over the redhead at the memory of her sister's face the night before. Truthfully, Jill _had _looked devastated – but it was nothing she wouldn't get over.

Besides... 'maybe' was the answer she'd given. There was nothing in that word worth being guilty about; of course not! If her answer had been, "Yes, Gray and I are seeing each-other secretly..." _that _might have been crossing the line. But a 'maybe' was as good as a straight out 'no', honestly! Nothing could be determined with a word like that.

And on the other hand... well, by the rumors she'd heard, Jill had been pretty harsh on Gray the previous night. Gray... could need comforting, and who was to say that Veronica couldn't offer that comfort? Skeptical as she was about believing it, because surely even _Jill _wasn't stupid enough to give that guy up – there had been rumors that the couple were now... not quite so... couple-y, per se.

Damn it, there was that stupid guilty feeling again. She hadn't done anything wrong! There was _no _reason for guilt! Besides... Gray clearly deserved better than Jill if she was going to be so quick to assume things; Veronica had argued that all along. Jill had... brought this on herself.

**xxx**

Maybe it was a nightmare, Jill half-realized as she rolled over in bed, clutching an armful of blankets closer. It wouldn't surprise her – she'd been worried sick about this exact situation for weeks now; maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her. The idea was more than welcome, and for a few moments, she was more than ready to get up and run to the blacksmith's to see Gray.

Seconds later, an awful taste registered in her mouth and she realized with disgust that she hadn't brushed her teeth after throwing up the night before – which, on the bright side, got her out of bed quickly – and on the not so bright side, cemented what had happened quite firmly into reality.

In the bathroom, she scrubbed her teeth and the inside of her mouth so fiercely that her eyes watered. At least that way she couldn't tell which ones were the real tears. Spitting and grimacing at the trace of blood in the sink, she slumped down with both elbows leaning on the sink so she could rest her head in her hands.

"_What are you – are you breaking up with me?"_

She choked out a small, inaudible sound, fisting her hands in her tangled hair and rocking forward. She'd actually – oh God, she'd actually broken up with him. Gray wasn't... her boyfriend anymore, was he?

How? It wasn't... this wasn't something that could _happen_. Jill and Gray; that was supposed to be the relationship that... stayed exactly that. A relationship. Trying to come to grips with it was going to be impossible at best...

And then there was everyone _else_... hopefully Gray would tell them, but – how could Jill face that? Those awful, sympathetic glances everybody had given her as soon as she broke up with Tom. That was in a _city_ where people lost communication; where people didn't see each-other every day. How would she deal with a bad break-up in a small country town...?

There was a sudden banging at the door and the blonde's face snapped up, only to recoil at the reflection in the mirror. First, she hadn't taken off any makeup the night before and the foundation had settled; flaking and dried in patches and rubbed off completely in others. Second... the amount of mascara coated over her cheeks – there was no _way _she could have put that much on to begin with! And her hair was doing... something with flicks and knots that she'd never seen it do before, and it was... really not flattering.

Possibly the most worrying thing was that she couldn't care less about whoever was on the other side of the door seeing her like this. She just didn't want to answer it, because there were... just about three people that she couldn't see right now for the sake of her own sanity.

"Jack? Jill? It's Ann!"

Make that four people.

"Okay, I'm coming in," she announced, simply slamming the door open and walking in. Jill closed her eyes and tensed; certain that Ann must know; certain that she was about to face the very first of a barrage of 'Are you okay?', 'How are you holding up?' and 'You tell me if you need anything'. "Good job with the answering of your door, loser," she called out casually, making her way across the house and trying not to let her eyes flicker to a few dirty dishes sitting in the kitchen, lest she be tempted to clean them immediately. "And – Jill, you're not looking great," she grimaced, finally catching a proper glimpse of the blonde. "Somebody partied a little too hard last night."

... She didn't know.

"Yeah," Jill murmured back, wincing at the harsh sound of her own voice. "I guess."

"Well, I have no time for hangovers. You have a shower and take that makeup off... I need you to come with me."

"I don't feel well –"

"Jill, it's important and it'll take you half an hour at most. Please, just... get some clothes, have a quick shower... I'll wait. And you never know, while you're in the shower the cleaning fairy might –"

"Ann, do not clean." Jill said flatly, taking an old pair of jeans from her bureau. The waitress glowered at the blonde's back and folded both arms over her chest.

"I don't _control _the cleaning fairy," she shot back, walking into the kitchen and filling the sink with hot water and detergent as soon as Jill was locked into the bathroom. She only had about five minutes before Jill emerged with her hair in a dripping ponytail, makeup-free – but then again, five minutes was all she had needed to clean the dishes and wipe the kitchen bench down. "Ready to go?" she asked cheerfully, ignoring Jill's dull glare at the fact that Ann had blatantly ignored her instructions.

"Ann, I don't –"

"Cool," the redhead interrupted, not remotely interested in listening to protests. She took Jill's wrist in her hand and firmly led her towards the door.

"W-where are we going?" Jill asked anxiously, her face void of any color. "This isn't... a meeting or anything, is it? Who – who's going to be there?"

The waitress shot her another funny glance before suddenly tilting her head in understanding. "Jill, is this just because you don't want to see your sister?"

"... Partly?"

"There's nobody at the inn right now except Cliff, Dad and I, so don't worry. Why the sudden... intense Veronica-hating? Did something happen?"

"Goddess, _why _would you assume that?" Jill snapped quickly, making Ann take a reasonably large step back.

"Well... at first it was just a random guess, but after the miniature freak out, I'm kind of thinking maybe it was a good one." Jill remained silent, her lips pressed together firmly. "You... don't want to talk about it?"

"Ann..." the blonde said, a pleading note in her voice that made the redhead wave dismissively.

"Right, okay. Not now." She fixed her eyes ahead somewhat and smiled at the doors of the inn. "I have a surprise for you, actually. Don't get too excited, it's not like... a moving house or anything –"

"A _what_?"

"Come on Jill, you lived in the city," Ann said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, don't get your hopes up too high; that's all I'm saying."

"So not a problem," she mumbled in reply, grimacing somewhat as Ann led her through the double doors and into an almost completely empty inn, with only Cliff present in the main room. He offered Jill a weak smile which she barely returned, before Ann pushed her down into a seat by the bar, walked around to the other side and pulled up a seat for herself.

"Now, uh... I guess I'm not so sure how to ask this," the redhead began, seeming uncharacteristically nervous. "I just... Jill, you're my best friend. You're pretty much one of my favorite people." She was blushing furiously and Jill had to smile at the unexpected compliment. "Don't let that go to your head, idiot, but... uh... Cliff and I... we'd really appreciate it if you would be my maid of honor at the wedding."

Jill froze, opening her mouth slightly but not managing to make any sound. She was truly touched that Ann would ask her, honestly – it was just... the idea of coping with another wedding so soon was almost sickening. Would she be able to –

Oh Goddess, listening to her own thoughts was almost _embarrassing. _Ann was her best friend! She shouldn't even need to think about her answer... it wasn't like Ann was asking _her _to get married; only to be there on the most important day of her life. And if... if watching a happy couple together was going to be a little difficult, that was okay. Because damn it, it wasn't about her, it was about Ann.

"I'd love to," the blonde said sincerely, smiling some as Ann gave what could only be described as a triumphant yodel. "Thank you for asking me."

"Thank _you _in advance for planning my bachelorette party," the waitress beamed, ignoring the way Jill's eyes widened at that. "Do you have time now to go over some of the wedding plans with me? Of course you do," she cut across before Jill could reply, "You weren't doing much of anything when I showed up, right?" There was a pause as Ann mistook the downcast expression on Jill's face for annoyance. "... I'm sorry, I just..." She made a gentle but none-too-subtle motion for Cliff to leave the room. "I'm overwhelmed. You know when... you feel like nobody really understands how much you've got on your shoulders... and you just want to kind of... stay in bed, I guess."

"I know the feeling," Jill said quietly, her heart sinking again as she fixed her gaze on her hands, with the horrible realization that nothing had quite hit home yet – and that she was going to feel a hell of a lot worse shortly.

"Mm. I'm thrilled, to be getting married, you know? And Cliff –" she paused briefly as she checked over her shoulder, blushing again. "He's just... I'm getting him to open up more and more lately. And when he does, he's just so sweet, I –"

Jill nodded and smiled half-heartedly as Ann talked, trying her best to keep a level head as her stomach clenched painfully. Hearing about _love_, and _trust, _and the _loyalty _that supposedly came with marriage – ha. Hadn't she thought she was safe, with Gray? Hadn't she _trusted _him, thought he was _loyal_? Hadn't he said he _loved _her?

... Didn't _she_ love _him_?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. But apparently that still wasn't any kind of guarantee.

"– So it actually took a long time to decide... because, I mean, Cliff and I owe Jack a lot... it's kind of thanks to him that we're together at all. But Gray and Cliff have been best friends for a _long _time, and since you two are dating anyway, that was how we thought it should –"

"What?" Jill asked sharply, tuning straight back in to Ann's words. "S-sorry, what were you saying?"

"Gray. As Cliff's best man. We thought you'd be happier with him there than anybody else anyway, and –"

Jill nodded blankly, her head spinning as Ann shot off on another spiel, apparently not needing any reactions from the blonde to continue – because she certainly wasn't getting any. The girl wasn't moving remotely, staring blankly ahead and feeling like a damn idiotfor thinking for one split second that she was selfless enough to be in this wedding. There was no _way _she could do it – even in a few years if she got over Gray completely, she was never going to be able to look that man in the face. She'd never felt so violently sick in her life.

"I can't."

"... What?" Ann asked, quirking an eyebrow at the sudden comment. "Can't what?"

"Your wedding. I... I can't be your maid of honor," Jill muttered, quickly looking away as Ann's face froze and fell. "Sorry."

"Ha..." Ann attempted weakly, rolling her eyes. "Goddess, you really don't know me at all if you think I'm the type to joke about my wedding plans."

"I'm not joking. I'm not going to be in the wedding."

There was a long pause and when Ann started speaking again, the slight humor had drained from her voice to be replaced by a dangerous tone. "Are you going to give me a reason why?"

"I can't," Jill said softly, unable to look her friend in the eye. "I can't tell you why, but –"

"You can't _tell _me?"

"No. It's... private."

"You don't think I deserve a reason?" Ann snapped, slamming one flat hand onto the bar, her face beginning to match her hair color. "My best friend agrees to be my maid of honor... changes her mind all of twenty seconds later... and you think I'll be fine with that? You don't think I deserve to know why you're _abandoning _me on the most special day of my life?"

"It's not abandoning –"

"Do _not _get me started. I can't think of a time when you've done anything worse to me," she choked, clenching her fists and lowering her voice, leaning in closer. "This... is worse than Cliff leaving me for the city. Because he had a damn reason, and the nerve to tell me what that reason was. And here you are – leaving me on the most important day of my life – and you think that whatever your stupid damn reason is, it's too _important _and _private _to tell me?"

"How _dare _you," Jill retorted, pushing her way to her own feet. "You don't know what my reasons are, and you have noright to say that they're not important. Do you really think I'm the type of person to ditch you over something insignificant? I'm telling you, I _can't _do it."

"You know what I think? I think half the time, you're so busy caught up in your own head with your own problems, you couldn't care less about what's going on around you. I'm not going to listen to you pretend that my wedding means something to you – if it's not all about you, it's not important, right?"

"I can't believe you," the blonde shot back, a single frustrated tear rolling down her cheek.

Ann rolled her eyes, making an exasperated noise. "And here come the waterworks..."

"You have no idea! I can't believe you would turn your back on me like this just because I –"

"Because you _just _did exactly the same thing? You damn hypocrite, Jill. You're..." she gave an empty, incredulous laugh. "You're turning your back on me right when I need you the most. There is _no _reason that I can think of that justifies what you're doing here. Do you realize how much it means for me to have my best friend beside me when I get married?" She exasperatedly wiped her own eyes, managing to glare at Jill simultaneously.

"Do you realize how much it means for _me _to know that my best friend could understand and not _push _and not have a _tantrum _when I tell her, plain and simple, that I have a perfectly good reason why that's exactly what I can't do?" Jill shook her head, wiping away the furious tears that had continued to flow. "If this is the kind of best friend you're going to turn out to be, I want nothing to do with your wedding. So when you're writing your stupid invitations, I don't need one." She turned on her heel and stormed out without looking back.

If she'd turned around for just a moment, the expression of hurt on Ann's face would have stopped her in her tracks.

**xxx**

"Jill's downstairs," Cliff said quietly, walking into the room that he was continuing to share with Gray and not failing to notice the blacksmith's expression at her name. "Which... I'm guessing... isn't a good thing right now?"

"... No," the redhead said sullenly, resting one elbow on the table and placing his head in his hand.

Cliff waited for him to elaborate, to no avail. "Uh... did Saibara give you the day off work?"

"No." There was a long silence. "I just didn't go."

There was another silence as Cliff's eyes widened at the seriousness of that statement. "So, you're... suicidal?"

"He won't kill me," Gray said flatly, almost as if he were regretting that fact. "I just need a day off."

"For the first time in years?"

There was yet _another _silence as the blacksmith shifted uncomfortably, closing his eyes and admitting for the first time words that he had never wanted to say. "Jill and I broke up."

"Oh my God," Cliff said, his voice sounding unusually, genuinely shocked. "... Wh – I don't want to intrude, but why?"

"Well," Gray began, his mouth twisting into a grimace as the expression of his whole body changed, "I have _no damn idea_. I didn't get a freaking reason. All I know is that she apparently never wants to see me again, or speak to me again, or _look _at me again, and that she's... never going to forgive me. I don't know what the hell she thinks I did... I've never seen her that distressed before."

Cliff watched hopelessly as Gray's face began to change again, apparently with realization. "Uh... look, I don't know what to say –"

"_You don't think I deserve a reason?" _A sudden yell came from downstairs, clear as day. "_My best friend_... _her mind... twenty seconds... fine with that?"_

"Ugh," the traveler murmured quietly, bringing one hand up and massaging his forehead. "That doesn't sound good." Both boys fell silent as Jill's voice started up, her actual words almost inaudible, before the girls downstairs eventually sounded almost hysterical, cutting the other off and throwing out words like 'hypocrite' and 'selfish' at each other. There was a final shouted sentence from one of them, a door slammed, and everything fell dangerously silent.

Neither spoke as they exchanged a confused glance, but the sound of footsteps barreling up the stairs could be heard clearly until their door flew open and a near-sobbing Ann launched herself into an unsuspecting Cliff's arms.

"Gray," she snapped, fixing a fierce scowl on the confused man, "Jill is an – an abandoning, _selfish –_" she finished with a word that made Cliff wince and Gray raise one eyebrow. "You can stick up for her all you want, but that girl has major issues and I don't _care _if she's your girlfriend; she can –"

"She's not," Gray said shortly, clenching his fists tightly and giving the wooden floorboards an agonized stare. Those two words stopped Ann in her tracks; she blinked up at Cliff incredulously before turning fully to Gray.

"She's not... your girlfriend?"

"They broke up," Cliff murmured into her hair quietly, making her face drop in realization before hardening again.

"Well," Ann began, her expression stony, "If that's what would make her turn her back on me... congratulations, Gray. You got out while you still could."

"Ann," Cliff reprimanded gently, completely stuck in the middle as the two redheads glared furiously at each-other. She shrugged her fiancé's grip off and made an exasperated, low sound as she stormed back out the door. Cliff glanced up at Gray who was now glowering at the door in pure rage. "She doesn't mean it... she's upset..."

"I'll give her upset," he snapped, pushing his way past Cliff and down the stairs after Ann. She was leaning both elbows on a table in the empty room; Gray took a firm hold of her wrist and pulled her none-too-gently into the back room. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem," she growled, "Is that Jill somehow sees it as appropriate to refuse to be my maid of honor. My problem is that my supposed best friend wouldn't tell me that she'd broken up with her boyfriend. My _problem _is that, by the looks of it, friendship and loyalty mean nothing to her –"

"What do you mean she won't be your maid of honor?" Gray interrupted, shaking his head slightly. "That doesn't have anything to do with –"

"I can only assume that she won't do it because you're the best man," the waitress responded with very little tact. Gray's face paled instantly.

"I'm... best man?" he asked, before shaking his head. "No, I... she's your best friend. T-tell her I'll step down, and she can do it."

"But you're Cliff's best friend..." Ann said quietly. "It would mean a lot to me if Jill was there... but I don't want to think that it's a choice; you or me. If she doesn't care about me enough to put that aside, and be there for me... I don't want to make special circumstances for her."

"I'm not doing it," the blacksmith said adamantly, ignoring Ann as she protested violently. "I don't want to know that I'm keeping her from her best friend's wedding."

"But then she'll be keeping you from _your _best friend's wedding!"

"I'll deal with it," he murmured.

"I can't go back and ask her to do it _now_... we just had a huge fight, I – please, Gray... Goddess, you guys just broke up and you're _still _trying to do all this selfless crap? Cliff is going to be so upset, and... it's completely pointless!"

"Maybe," he said quietly, turning back to her and catching her gaze. "But it's all I _can_ do."

**xxx**

"My wife... is an idiot," Tom snarled to himself, smacking his fist into his palm furiously as he paced their hotel room. "That _stupid _woman."

There had been arguing and fighting going on downstairs all morning. Whatever; he really couldn't care less about the pathetic affairs of these small-town hicks. Admittedly, when the fighting had moved to the room right beside him, and doors had started slamming, and footsteps had started thumping, and that obnoxious – yet good-looking – waitress girl had started yelling, apparently at that blacksmith...

Then she'd followed him upstairs and spent close to an hour yelling and crying and ranting and crying and yelling and ranting... and yelling and ranting and crying...

And now Tom had a headache, but even that wasn't the reason he had an uncontrollable urge to knock his wife into the middle of next Tuesday. Because somewhere, in the middle of the crying and ranting and yelling and ranting and yelling and crying and yelling and crying and ranting, he'd gathered one crucial piece of information that led to two crucial realizations.

Primarily, Jill and Gray, some time between leaving the inn the previous night and waking up this morning, had broken up.

The realizations were, first, that – while he wasn't sure how she'd done it – Veronica had had _some_ part in breaking them up. It wasn't even an option to assume anything else.

And second, they were screwed.

The _company_. Was she completely stupid? Did she _really _think that breaking those two up would help achieve anything? There was no chance that Jill would let Jack pass anything over to Veronica after a stunt like that; _no _chance. So now all he could do was pace the floor; trying to keep his temper under control but finding that his patience wore out more and more with every moment Veronica took in coming back.

He couldn't hit her when she came in, no matter how angry she got him. That was one thing he had never done since he first started seeing Veronica – not out of _respect _for her or anything like that, but because if he _did _give her a slap or two he could only imagine the drama she would make out of it. Now that her father was dead he was less nervous about getting on her bad side, but... he wasn't entirely sure that it was a good idea to start abusing the damn woman, either.

But right now... his hand was definitely tingling, and she'd better hope she didn't push him too far.

The actual breakup didn't affect him in the slightest, and the thought that his dancing with Jill at the wedding may have contributed didn't even cross his mind. As far as he was concerned, the couple could do what they wanted as long as Tom got what _he _wanted.

Though he wasn't going to say no to messing around with a newly single, vulnerable Jill...

The door opened quietly and his wife stepped in, the half-smile faltering on her face as soon as she caught sight of Tom's expression. "What's wrong?"

"Jillian and Gray have broken up," he said bluntly, making Veronica raise two perfect eyebrows.

"I'm aware of that. I didn't realize their relationship was so interesting to you."

"You and I know perfectly well that your sister and her lowlife blacksmith are nothing to me," Tom growled, taking an intimidating step towards the woman – who stepped back despite herself. "But, just to let you know, I'll tell you what _does _matter to me. The thing we came here for. The damn company."

"Alright," Veronica said stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest and trying unsuccessfully to pull herself up to her husband's height. "Which has nothing to do with anything, so... are you going to actually tell me why you're so angry at the moment, or do I just keep guessing?"

"_Don't_ get smart with me," the dark-haired man snarled, gripping her arm firmly and pulling her towards him so powerfully that she visibly winced. "I don't know what you think you're playing at, and I don't know how you did it... but _you _are somehow responsible for this break up. Aren't you?" The redhead blinked at him incredulously, which only heightened his anger. "_Aren't _you?" He repeated fiercely, giving her arm a violent shake.

"Of course not! How could I be?" She protested, wrenching herself away from his grip. "And how dare you touch me?"

"I'm your husband," he said lowly, stepping towards her again. "I have every right in the world. Now listen to me –"

"You're insane," Veronica hissed, rolling her eyes and backing towards the door again, wrenching it open. "I'll be waiting for an apology when you want me to come back."

"And if I don't want you to come back at all?" Tom pressed, curling his lip.

"We'll come to that if it happens," she said coldly, slamming the door behind her and standing in the corridor, realizing that she hadn't exactly thought through where to go now.

She jumped slightly as the door of Cliff and Gray's shared room opened and the former came out, one arm around his distressed fiancé. Veronica watched as they walked right past her and down the stairs, before turning her gaze to the closed door of the room that they had left.

Carefully biting her lip, she forced a few tears to fall down her cheeks and ran one hand through her hair to tousle the red curls – before taking in a shaky breath and moving over to knock on Gray's door.

The blacksmith opened it instantly, his face showing slight concern at Veronica's disheveled appearance. "Uh, hey... are you okay?"

"It's... it's Tom," she choked, her blue eyes welling up with tears as she gave Gray a pleading, well-practiced gaze. "We just had... a really big fight. Can – can I come in?"

**xxx**

**:P once again, so so so sorry for the laaaaaate update. I SWEAR it will never take this long again.**


	50. Chapter 50

**I do realize that I left you all for a very long time again with a quite unfair cliffhanger. I have... reasons other than laziness, which is a plus xD. But it can't take this long again, it CAN'T!**

**Therefore: I am aiming for an update in 2-3 weeks and then an update the week after that because of my exam/holiday schedule.**

**And I am not writing review replies and I feel terribly rude D: but, uh... know that I strongly adore you all? And the only reason I'm not writing them is so you get a quicker update. Yeah. xD**

**xxx**

_Carefully biting her lip, she forced a few tears to fall down her cheeks and ran one hand through her hair to tousle the red curls – before taking in a shaky breath and moving over to knock on Gray's door._

_The blacksmith opened it instantly, his face showing slight concern at Veronica's disheveled appearance. "Uh, hey... are you okay?"_

"_It's... it's Tom," she choked, her blue eyes welling up with tears as she gave Gray a pleading, well-practiced gaze. "We just had... a really big fight. Can – can I come in?"_

**xxx**

"Yeah... of course," Gray said instantly, a deep frown on his face as he threw the door open wide. "What did he do?"

"He... I just walked into the room, and he started yelling at me," she murmured, resting her head in one hand. "I don't know why... he never tells me why he's mad; just yells and pushes me around –"

"He hurt you?" Gray asked sharply, taking a step towards the smaller woman. She bit her lip slightly, unsure of how to answer that.

"N-not, _hurt _me, per se," she began awkwardly, closing her eyes. "I mean... not on an abusive level –"

"If he put one damn finger on you violently I'd call that abusive," he snarled. "The man's scum, whether or not you want to admit it."

"I just didn't know where to go – I can't go back there until he calms down, and... I... I guess I'd feel more comfortable with someone who could protect me. If you don't mind, that is."

Gray blinked at her incredulously. "You really think I'm going to say you can't stay?"

"Thank God..." she exhaled slowly, shaking her head and placing one hand on her heart as she blinked up at him. "I know I've said it before, but you're... such a gentleman. And you're so kind to me – I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it."

"Anybody else would do the same," he said dryly. "There's not many people out there who are evil enough to do anything different."

She was still gazing at him with large eyes and a genuine smile. "If that's really what you think... you have a beautiful outlook on the world. But men like you are one in a million, and women like me..." she hesitated, a slight blush crossing her face. "Well, we're never lucky enough to find you."

"Well, I'll admit that you lucked out when you found that guy," Gray snapped, his lip curling as he glared at the wall separating them from Tom. Veronica had to smile as she realized how blatantly clueless he was to her subtle advances, but her expression switched straight back to a serious one when the blacksmith glanced in her direction.

"I always wonder how it would have been if I'd waited," she murmured, walking over and inviting herself to sit down at the room's small table. "If we hadn't married so fast..." she risked a glance from under lowered eyelids. "If I never got pregnant. I love Kayla, of course I love her... but..."

"Understandable," Gray said slowly, taking a great deal of time in his answers. Veronica gave a tiny sigh and shook her head, sending auburn curls back and forth.

"It's not... it's awful of me to think it. But I feel like... I owe Kayla a daddy, and I'd never be strong enough to bring her up by myself. I love Tom... I don't _want _to break up with him... it's just thinking that I don't have a choice –"

"Of course you have a choice," the blacksmith growled. "Don't think for another second that you're stuck with him. You could do ten times better if you wanted to."

"Nobody's going to look twice at a single mother," she mumbled, ducking her head and trying her hardest not to smile when Gray placed one hand under her chin, tilting her face towards him. His expression was deadly serious and she tried her very best to match it. "I'm not... attractive, anymore."

"Bull," he exhaled. "I'm not even going to challenge you on that one. You _know _it's not true. _I_ know you know it's not true."

"Not true?" Veronica breathed, an anguished expression on her face. "I'll never be the same as I was before the pregnancy –"

"Who _gives _a damn?" Gray exploded, grabbing Veronica by her shoulders. "You're beautiful, and I – I _hate _seeing what that guy's done to your self-confidence. I watched Ji –" he froze for a moment before slowly letting go of Veronica and continuing quietly. "I've watched Jill struggle for two years now, Veronica. That's how much he broke her. Two years later and she still... can't see herself clearly. I won't let that happen to you as well – no woman deserves it."

"If anyone deserves it, I do," she said firmly. "I'm not a good person."

"You're – Goddess." He cut himself off, running his hands through his hair in aggravation. "I don't understand... what could have _possibly _made you marry that man. Can you see what he's doing to you?"

"I didn't want to be alone..." she murmured. "I couldn't be alone. You don't understand what I – when I found out I was pregnant, I saw my life going two ways. Okay?" She exhaled. "One way... I stayed with Tom and had the baby as a married woman. I'd show off to my single friends and chat with the married ones. My parents would be delighted, they'd buy us a house, they'd support us completely." She glanced at Gray, who had fallen silent. "And then, the other option... I left Tom. I had the baby by myself, no husband beside me when I was giving birth, or helping me choose a name, or getting me to the hospital... and my parents would still... love me, and I think they would support me, but I don't think they would ever be _fine _with it."

"They didn't know that you and Tom were –"

"It's not that. _That_, they were fine with – for heaven's sake, they raised Jack. It's more... God, we're upper class. We're _respected_. And Daddy, he had the whole company to think about. When – when a married daughter has a baby, it's a celebration. But if I was single..." she was shocked to realize her eyes were filling with genuine tears. "It would be an embarrassment. Kept quiet... nothing celebratory about it. Certainly nothing Daddy could talk about at company gatherings, or with his colleagues. I just loved him and Mommy... I didn't want them having to be ashamed of me. And... _I _didn't want to be ashamed of me. When I imagined the awful, fake sympathy I'd get from my friends; my aunts and uncles – I couldn't face it Gray, I couldn't." She gave a muffled sob and buried her head in her hands.

"Look, don't... don't cry," Gray said awkwardly, placing one hand on Veronica's shoulder. She blinked up at him, mascara already streaking down her face. In the next instant she was on her feet, her arms thrown around his waist and her head resting on his chest as she took in deep, shaky breaths.

"I couldn't get rid of her..." she choked. "Of Kayla... I knew that much from the start. So I... guess I took the easy way out. I... I'm a coward, I know –"

"No," he said plainly, shaking his head. "You're not a coward. You just got... scared." He glanced up at the ceiling and then back down to the redhead with the tiniest of smiles. "I... get that you didn't want to be alone. Even if I'll never understand why you got together with him in the first place."

Veronica smirked, reluctantly taking her arms away as Gray stepped back. There was a moment of silence before she glanced up again, her eyes darting over the taller man's face. "Hey, I'm... I'm sorry. About my sister."

Gray's expression hardened and he looked away. "You've got no reason to be sorry. It's not your fault."

_If you only knew..._ "Still," she shrugged, tilting her head sideways, "It must be... really hard for you." There was another pause before she clapped both hands over her mouth. "Oh God... I'm so sorry. Here I am, loading all my problems on you when it's the last thing you need..."

"Hey, don't. I'm... always here for your whole family."

"You're incredible," she said softly, sitting down again and shaking her head.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Well, compared to Tom..."

"God, _Tom_," she spat, bringing both hands up and clenching them in her hair. "I just want to forget about him. For ten minutes; ten freaking _seconds –_"

"I know what you mean," Gray said quietly – and when she glanced up, the broken expression on his face made her heart ache like it never had before. There was a strong, amazing man sitting in front of her, reduced to a little boy – and all because that idiot of a sister couldn't realize what she had.

"She doesn't deserve you."

His gaze snapped over to Veronica, a defensive expression on his face. "I think it's pretty obvious that it's the other way around."

She had to smile, shaking her head incredulously. "You're just too sweet, you know that? And there's people like Jill who will take what they need and leave... people who just use you. I'm not saying this to hurt you – I'm saying it to help."

"You think she broke up with me for no _reason_?"

"Well, did she give you a reason?"

"I –" he began, the childish look in his eyes returning. "She was mad. Really, really mad... I just have to wait –"

"How long?" Veronica spat, pushing herself up out of her chair and taking a step towards him as he also got to his feet. "How long are you willing to wait – she won't even tell you why she's mad, Gray. She doesn't even care about you enough to do _that_."

"I've... done something," he stuttered out, furrowing his brow. "I must have... Jill loves me. She wouldn't do this – not without proof –"

"She _is_," Veronica said impatiently, taking another annoyed step towards the blacksmith. "Gray, honey, I know you're hurting... but you _know_ that you haven't done anything wrong; nothing to get this sort of a response from her. She doesn't trust you. How much can she really love you, if she won't even give you that much?"

A sharp slap to the face would have him hurt less. Gray's bewildered expression triggered another dull pain in Veronica's heart and without allowing herself another thought, she closed the distance between them and stood high on her toes, expertly pressing her lips to his. Not wasting a second, she wrapped two arms around the back of his neck and smirked against his mouth as she felt the pressure of reciprocating lips. _It's almost too easy..._

Barely a few moments later, the red-haired woman shrieked slightly as she found herself pushed firmly across the room and staring into a furious pair of blue eyes. Gray's face was twisted in an expression of complete disgust that made her feel lower and dirtier than she'd ever felt in her life. "What the _hell _do you think you're playing at?" he growled dangerously.

Did – did he just _reject _her?

"I –" she began, at a complete loss for words – again, a first in her life.

"Look, I don't know what's going through your mind right now, and I... I get that you're confused over your husband – but holy Goddess, y-you really think that's the way to –"

"I need to forget Tom for a bit, you need to get over Jill," Veronica pointed out, her falsely calm voice wavering noticeably. "I just –"

"Get over her?" Gray began lowly. "Get... _over _her? You think that's ever going to happen?"

"I – I mean, maybe not today, but in a week or so –"

"A week," he choked with an incredulous laugh. "You think that's how long it takes to get over someone you love? Would you be over Tom in a week?"

"Well... I don't know, maybe two," she struggled, her face heating up. So _this_ was complete and utter embarrassment.

"Then you don't love him and you never have," Gray said coldly, "And I'm sorry for you, really, but it's not my problem and _this –_" he gestured vaguely between the two of them, "Is never, _never _going to happen. Goddess, do you have any idea how much that would hurt Jill? Of all the things in the world, letting something happen between you and I is the one thing I would never do. If I hurt her that badly... I just... couldn't live with myself."

"What about how much she's hurt you?" the woman said softly, tears welling up in her eyes. "You can't say it doesn't hurt to be... pushed aside like you're nothing; like you never meant anything to her – and without a reason..."

"Maybe she's making a mistake. Maybe she's going through something that I don't know about," the blacksmith said, his eyes narrowed as they watched Veronica in an uncomfortably intense gaze. "But I'll wait until she's ready to talk about it."

"And what if it doesn't happen?" Veronica asked, beginning to feel anger mix in with her mortification. With everything Jillian was putting him through, he was _still _keeping up the faithful, self-righteous crap? She'd practically just handed herself to him on a silver platter! Didn't that mean _anything_? Didn't he realize how many guys back in high school would have cut off a limb for the opportunity he'd just had? "If she never comes back to you?"

"So be it. I'll always leave the option there. Whether or not she wants to take it..." his stony expression crumpled slightly. "I guess I have to leave that up to her... and just hope."

"And you feel sorry for _me_," she scoffed, folding both arms over her chest. "Well... when you're... I don't know, dying alone... I hope you can look back and realize that you, Gray, were a complete freaking _idiot_." She walked over to the door and flung it open, taking one glance back over her shoulder. "I have nothing else to say to you."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," he muttered, shaking his head as the door slammed closed – before crossing the room to sink down weakly onto his bed. _This is too much._

**xxx**

**Three days later.**

"She's stupid and stubborn and insolent and mentally unstable, and _why _won't she let me help her?"

"The books, Jack," Mary said anxiously, her eyes flitting between his clenched fists and the bookshelves he was standing next to. "Please don't hurt the books."

"She's just pushing everybody away," he muttered, stepping away from the shelves and sinking down on the couch, much to the librarian's relief. "And I know that she needs some space and that sure, there are some people she needs to push away. But not me; not her big brother. If she won't let me help her, who the hell can?"

"Maybe –"

"She fought with Ann, and she didn't even _tell _anybody that she broke up with Gray, let alone telling anybody why, and apparently even _Gray _doesn't know. You know she dropped out of Ann's wedding? And now I'm expected to pick up the pieces and I have to go and talk to Ann and make sure she's okay because as far as I know she was really upset and she wanted to talk to me about something with the wedding –" he stopped to take in a deep breath, ignoring the fact that all of his words were starting to run together. "She always used to come to me with everything, and even after she broke up with Tom she shut people out, but never me." He stopped there, his voice changing to a completely quiet and almost afraid one. "She scares me so much, Mary. She's one of the few people in the world that – it just _kills _me to imagine losing her... but I think I am. And there's nothing I can do to stop that."

"Jack..." Mary whispered, hurrying over to sit beside him. He quietly leaned on her, not saying a word as she stroked his hair. "Listen to me. If – if she's broken up with him, she must be... just... destroyed."

"But she won't even tell us _why_."

"Maybe she's been hurt too much," she murmured. "I know Gray's a good person, but we have _no idea _what happened between them."

"He wouldn't hurt her," Jack said adamantly, shaking his head and closing his eyes, still resting on Mary. "We know him."

"I don't believe he'd hurt her intentionally, or physically," the librarian said, her voice still sounding remarkably gentle. "But I don't believe Jill would break up with him for a small reason. I... you're her big brother, Jack. You've been supporting her emotionally her whole life... and maybe because of that, you can't see how much she's come to depend on Gray. But she – she loves him, maybe more than most people can understand. And the... the more you love someone, the easier it is for them to hurt you."

Jack was silent for a few moments. "I don't understand," he said softly, "Why she can't talk to me about it. I want to help her... I want to make her feel better about it."

"He has been... arguably the most important part of her life," Mary said after a few minutes. "And if I lost someone that I really lov – that I really cared about..." Jack sat up straight at that point, meeting her gaze with a small smile and taking her hand, "– I don't think there's anyone... apart from that person... who could make me feel better about it. That's just the way life works, and I know it's not fair, but..."

"It's life," Jack nodded, his voice quiet. He glanced up at the librarian again and almost laughed as he pulled her into a hug and landed a light kiss on her forehead. "What the hell would I do without you? My little philosopher."

"I know, I know. I'm your guardian angel," she sighed, getting to her feet and trying futilely to pull Jack to his. He smirked at her as he stood up of his own accord, before raising an eyebrow at the clock.

"Why does time go so _fast_ in here?" he growled, frowning some as he shot a reluctant look towards the door. "I have to speak to Ann about... well, whatever she needed to speak to me about. I'll come by soon, okay?"

"Okay," Mary returned, smiling some and standing on her toes as Jack leaned down to kiss her. She watched the door swing closed in resignation. Every single time she watched him leave, her heart would twist and ache, generally distracting her from whatever she was supposed to be doing until he came back again. She just... always missed him, too much for her own good.

"Mary?" The door opened again and Jack appeared again, resting his side against the door-frame. "You... you are, you know."

"I'm what?"

"My angel."

There was a moment of genuine, meaningful silence between them before Mary rolled her eyes playfully and the farmer grinned. "I _swear _it didn't sound that horribly cliché in my head."

"Get out," she laughed, shaking her head as Jack winked at her and ducked outside again.

Her own glance at the clock told her that it only was five minutes until the library's closing time. With a sigh, she started to place the stack of books on her desk back onto the appropriate shelves. _Drama. Thriller. Drama. Romance._

She examined the book in her hand for a moment, her heart sinking. She'd picked it up a few weeks ago, not knowing what to expect – but she'd ended up crying her eyes out before she was even halfway through it. The author had just... described these raw, heartbroken emotions that had really resounded with her. Even with how much Jack meant to her, even though she didn't think about Gray anymore, it still hurt. The end of any relationship was always going to be tough.

And Jill. Goddess, Jill. Mary wasn't going to lie and pretend that she'd ever _really_ gotten along with the blonde, or connected with her on any level before now. 'Before now' being the key words. Now... they'd both had a breakup with the same man. Sure, she didn't know what Jill's circumstances were – but did it matter? Back then, for her, the pain had seemed unbearable – and she wasn't stupid; Jill had a connection with Gray twenty times stronger than Mary ever did.

Even though the librarian couldn't admit it back then, and _wouldn't _admit it now... Jack was exactly what she had needed. A friend. Someone to listen. She'd pushed him away; shut him out and refused to open up – but he never gave up on her, and that had – and still – meant the world.

With her chin held up determinedly, Mary grabbed her coat and the library keys, walking outside without hesitation.

She hadn't gone through it alone. And damn it, whether she wanted to or not, Jill wasn't going through it alone either.

**xxx**

Jill pulled a saucepan out of the hot, soapy water and held it up in front of her, examining and scrutinizing it carefully – as if any minuscule trace of dirt would bring the apocalypse with it. "Clean," she murmured, realizing that she could see her clear reflection on the base. She stared at herself for a few moments before cringing and throwing the pot back into the sink, squeezing her eyes shut and wrapping her arms around her torso as drops of dishwater splashed over her and the newly-mopped floor. That was all it took for her to start crying again, sinking to her knees and leaning against the recently painted cabinets. Dirty water was running down some of them, the droplets leaving gray streaks against a stark white base.

_Gray..._

How long had it been? A month? A year? The calender said five days. _How_ could it only be five days? If a couple of weeks hadn't passed, at the very least... how could she keep this up? Keep hurting like this... the next ten minutes seemed like too much to get through, let alone the rest of her life.

_Why her? Anyone else. Anyone._

A knock at the door sent her staggering to her feet and wiping her eyes furiously. Manna had been by four times already to check if she was 'okay'; Sasha had been by twice. If they weren't going to leave her alone, she wasn't giving them an ounce of ammunition to use against her. They could gossip and lie and make up what they wanted, but those women were _not _going to see her break down. Veronica couldn't hear that.

"What?" she snapped, pulling the door open firmly. Her annoyed expression faltered slightly to surprise as she recognized the librarian, but within seconds she had her arms folded across her chest and her head tilted to the side. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you," Mary said softly.

"I don't want to talk."

"Can I come in for awhile?"

There was a pause as the blonde's eyes narrowed. What was this, one of Jack's master plans? "Whatever," Jill said flatly, turning on her heel and walking back into the kitchen. Mary followed, shrugging her coat off and sitting down at the bench as Jill picked up a spray bottle and aimed it at the stove, wiping it down meticulously before doing the same thing with the benchtop. Suddenly, the bottle fell out of her trembling hand and she sank down, clutching the bench for some kind of support, her head ducked in shame. "What are you here for?" she whispered. "I don't need advice or pity, okay – I don't need some damn go-between for me and Jack." She choked on her own words, running one hand through her tangled hair. "And I don't want to talk about _that_. So you can go back to my brother and tell him –"

"Your brother didn't send me."

"Well who –" she cut herself off mid-sentence, leveling the librarian with a hateful glare. "Oh, hell no. Gray didn't –"

"Nobody sent me," she continued calmly, playing with the end of her dark braid. "I just wanted to see that you're okay. Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm... fine."

Mary raised an eyebrow at the blonde. Her hair hadn't been brushed in days; she had dark circles under her eyes, and the immaculate state of the house would suggest that she'd been using cleaning as a substitute for sleep. Her complexion and eyes were dull, and most noticeably... it just looked like... all the spirit; all the _life_ had been zapped out of her. "You're lying to me."

"Would _you _be fine?" Jill snapped defensively. Mary gave her a sad half-smile.

"No, I wasn't."

That stopped Jill in her tracks; her mouth opened slightly and closed again until she stammered out a simple, "Oh."

"I'm not pretending it was... the same," the librarian continued, "But... I just want you to know that somebody else has been there, kind of."

There was a long pause as Jill stared blankly at Mary. "It is the same," she whispered eventually, shaking her head, her eyes wide and glassy with tears that had started to spill over. "Oh my Goddess, you're... we're... _Mary_." She was suddenly trembling; barely able to stand up straight as she moved forward and enveloped the bewildered librarian in a hug. "I'm so sorry... I'm _so_ sorry. I – how could I – you must hate me _so much_."

"I don't hate you," Mary said quickly, beyond puzzled at whatever was going on in the poor girl's head. "Of course I don't hate you. Why would I?"

"I took him away," she sobbed, her head buried in the other girl's shoulder. "I took him away from you, it was _me_. And he broke your heart and I, that's, that's what this is, it's karma. That's why Veronica came here; they're p-punishing me for, for what I did to you. That's why he cheated –"

"He cheatedon you?" Mary asked suddenly, her entire demeanor changing as everything started to fall into place. "He... Gray cheated on you with your own _sister_?" Before that moment, she hadn't thought she could feel much more sympathy for Jill. Now, though, her heart was positively breaking for her. "Jill, you listen to me." She grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her slightly, tears of her own welling up as she took in the blonde's hysterical state. "There is no twisted power in this universe... nothing, _nothing _that you have ever done could make you deserve that." Mary brought one hand to her mouth, impatiently shaking her head and trying to compose herself. "Oh my – Jill... why have you been keeping that bottled up?"

"You can't tell anyone," Jill pleaded, her face paper-white. "Please promise me. I can't – I can't take it again. I can't take the pity, and... people saying... why didn't he, leave me for her earlier –"

"Nobody is going to say that –"

"They did with Tom."

"I –" and with that, the librarian was speechless. She felt sickto her stomach, and it was very possible that she'd never felt so angry before in her life.

Cheating on anybody was bad enough. Cheating on somebody like Jill, who had been hurt in the same way before,was lower than low. But at least when Gray had left _Mary_, he did it for an emotional connection. He'd known that he... cared about Jill more than he could ever care about her.

But for the man to just... cheat... to throw away his relationship for a physical attraction... she could strangle him with her bare hands, honestly. And the way he'd looked at Jill; treated Jill... he was the last person in the world that anybody could see hurting her like that. He was just... a liar. She opened her mouth to ask Jill how she knew he'd cheated, but promptly closed it. If the blonde had caught them... she wouldn't ask her to revisit that for the world, and to be frank, Mary wasn't dying to think about that herself.

"I won't tell anyone." She pulled her back into a hug. That was all she could think to do for the moment. Because she was a writer, a reader, a librarian – she spent all day with words describing situations like these. But when it came right down to it, there was really nothing she could say.

"Was it," she began carefully after a few minutes, "Was it this bad... last time?"

"No," Jill whispered. "Oh my Goddess, _no_." She continued clinging to Mary as her whole body crumpled. "I didn't know I could hurt like this," she sobbed into the other girl's shoulder. "I didn't know anyone could, but it... I can't... it's over some – just some _guy_. And I feel like... he's died. I know that Gray's a-alive and, and healthy, and he's barely a street away from me right now... but I don't know _him_, whoever that is. The Gray I knew... he – he couldn't do this to me. But when – with Tom... maybe a little part of me saw it coming."

"So you're not really dealing with a breakup," Mary realized quietly, her heart sinking even more. "You're dealing with a... a death, of sorts."

Taking a few deep, shaking breaths, Jill pulled away and smoothed her hair back from her face. She attempted an apologetic smile as she noticed the damp stains her tears had left on Mary's shoulders, but her mouth trembled so violently that she had to shut it again. Walking into the kitchen, she placed a glass below the water faucet and filled it, then drank while holding the cup with both hands like a child. "Do you want anything?" she asked suddenly.

"No thank you," the dark-haired librarian said delicately, slightly thrown by Jill's apparent mood swings. The blonde shrugged and placed her glass on the counter behind her. While her back was turned, she began to speak softly again.

"I really... genuinely, truly believed that he was different, Mary," she confessed, staring blankly at the counter. "I thought he understood... what the situation with Tom and Veronica had done to me... how much it had hurt me. And I thought maybe –" her voice broke and her grip tightened around the glass in her hands. "– Maybe he was the only boy in the world who would turn Veronica down for me. I loved – I _love _him so much more than I loved Tom... and the only reason I let myself fall so hard was that I was so, so certain that he loved me that much too." There was a sneer on her face as she turned back towards Mary. "But I guess all men have the same priorities... and if they can get a prettier girl, they will. There is not a man in this damn _world _who would chose me over Veronica, and I thought I'd found the only one, but he's exactly the damn same as the rest of them!" Her voice rose hysterically and she started sobbing again before sinking to the floor. "Why does she have to be so _freaking _perfect?"

"Jill," Mary murmured sympathetically, quickly crossing the room and kneeling down beside her. She stroked the girl's hair back, her forehead creased with worry. "You're exhausted, and that makes everything worse. How long has it been since you've slept?"

"What if I dream about him?" the blonde whimpered, sitting up and wrapping her arms around her legs with her knees tucked up so her chin could rest on them.

"Considering how tired you are at the moment... I'd be really surprised if you had any dreams at all. It's honestly more likely that you'll just black out in a really heavy sleep for hours. And I promise – I _promise –_ you'll feel better afterwards."

A few moments of silence followed as Jill stared straight ahead with an almost resigned expression on her face. Her chin wavered slightly and another tear spilled down her cheek, despite her best efforts to keep herself composed. "I'm just tired," she muttered, pressing her palm to her forehead. "I'm so tired."

"I should let you get some rest," the librarian said, beginning to get to her feet – but the horrified expression on the other girl's face stopped her in her tracks. "What?"

"You can't leave," Jill mumbled, her eyes wide and her eyebrows lowered. "I don't want to be on my own. I..." she ducked her head, her cheeks flushing. "I'm not making any sense... I know it's, it's stupid, but I don't know what to say –"

"I won't go. Just... tell me what you're thinking."

There was another pause as the blonde took in a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her fists. "I don't know _how _to cope on my own, Mary, I don't know," she choked. Her voice cracked again and her hands were trembling violently as she covered her face with them. "I don't know how to wake up, and, and face the fact that he's _not in my life_. He was _everything_. How do I – we were... it was, him _and_ me, and now it's just me, and I hate that. I don't want to be just me, because he was the good part and now I don't like what's left. I don't like Jill; I don't want to be Jill – Goddess. I'm so messed up."

"You are not messed up," Mary said sternly. "Jill, this _isn't_ your _fault_." She was watching her break down before her eyes, and it was... disturbing. The Jill she knew from around town would smile and laugh – and fight with her brother, admittedly – and just be generally happy. This... little girl, on the other hand, hardly knew what to do with herself. Changing from sobs to composure to hysterics to collapsing – it was like she wasn't in control of her body, or her mind. She was just... overwhelmed with grief, and it was apparent that she really _did _see it as Gray's death, rather than a break up. It was truly devastating just to watch... but to _be_ Jill right now? She couldn't imagine.

"I screw up everything, Mary," Jill said quietly, still muffling her sobs. "Every damn thing. If I hadn't... gotten so angry over Tom and Veronica... if I'd stayed with my family, _tried _to push through instead of running away... then I wouldn't have met Gray, and Veronica wouldn't have met him... and you'd still be with him."

With that sentence, Mary fell silent and leaned back against the counter behind her. She didn't say a word for a long time – ten minutes, maybe twenty – but when she did, she startled Jill, who had drifted into her own little world in the time being.

"And... I wouldn't have met Jack," she murmured, a genuine smile creeping onto her face. "Y-you say that... you mess things up, but... I wouldn't even _know_ him if it weren't for you. I wouldn't ever know what it was like... to feel like this. Jill," she glanced up, her eyes suddenly teary, "I owe you so much. I – I love him." She laughed, finally admitting the words out loud. "Oh Goddess, I'm in love with your brother. These past months... you've made me happier than I ever could have been. _You_ did that by bringing him here... by getting together with Gray. I'll never be able to pay you back for that."

"Really?" Jill pressed, her eyes shining and hopeful as if her whole existence depended on knowing that she'd made just one person happy.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes," the librarian said firmly. "You've just... made mistakes. That's what people _do_."

"I make a few more than most people," she murmured, glancing around the kitchen as if she was only starting to realize that she was crouched on the floor. "I don't want to stay here... I want to go somewhere. But..." her expression fell. "I can't go to the inn... Ann's there... Gray's there... and _she's _there."

"Come to the library," Mary offered, surprised that she didn't actually mind the idea of letting somebody in after closing time. "I'll recommend some books... you can stay for a few hours."

"No romance novels," the blonde said in what could have been interpreted as a humorous voice.

"No romance novels," Mary agreed, smiling as Jill fumbled through a closet and pulled out a warm-looking jacket. There was a pause as both girls shrugged their coats on and headed outside, but Jill paused with her hand on the doorknob.

"Does it always hurt?" she asked quietly, making steady eye-contact with the ground beneath her feet.

"A little bit." Mary admitted, pulling her dark braid out from where it was caught between her coat and her back. "Not missing _him_... it's more feeling like he never saw you as enough." Her gaze rose to catch the blonde's as a moment of complete understanding passed between them. "But I promise... it doesn't hurt like this for much longer." Just a brief, sad smile as they both walked through the front door and up the path outside. "The Goddess isn't that unkind."

**xxx**

_Is she insane? How_ _could she think for one second that it was... in any way welcome, or appropriate –_

"Damn it, boy!" Saibara yelled, his expression furious as he stared at his grandson. Gray quickly snapped back to the present time and glanced down, swearing as he realized that the tool held over the furnace had melted into an unrecognizable shape. "I give you _two days off_, and all I ask is that you work overtime tonight. I'd... I'd like to be understanding, but... she's just a girl. You can't let your work suffer."

For a moment, the 'just a girl' comment stung and he opened his mouth to retaliate. But he quickly recognized a glimmer of sympathy in his grandfather's eyes – and somehow, that was possibly one of the worst parts of this whole ordeal.

"Go on," Saibara murmured, tilting his head towards the door. "I don't... I don't want any more accidents." Translated: _Take care of yourself. I'm worried._

"Thanks," the younger blacksmith said gruffly, running the back of his hand over his brow and picking up his coat in anticipation. Stepping out into the winter cold from anywhere remotely warm was unpleasant. Stepping out from the Blacksmith's, which felt like it had its own personal sun, was one of the biggest shocks to the system imaginable.

_One of_, his head repeated – and his eyes widened in horror mixed with some foreign twinge of happiness as he set eyes on Jill for the first time since – well, Elli and Tim's wedding reception was the easiest way of referring to it.

And she looked... Goddess. Her face was absolutely tear-stricken and she was clinging to one of Mary's arms – _Mary? _– as she half-walked, half-stumbled up the road. Thinking that – well, through whatever had her so mad at him – that he might have done that to her... the idea was agonizing.

Both girls glanced up almost simultaneously, freezing on the spot for a second as they recognized him. In the next instant, Mary had pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and shoved them into Jill's hand, mouthing the words 'Go on' and watching as the blonde quickly walked ahead. Her entire body was rigid and tense as Gray approached her slowly.

"Mary, is she oka –"

"Don't," she murmured plainly. "I don't want to speak to you. The only reason I stopped is because I want to tell you something." She took a deep breath and forced herself to make eye-contact with him; pure disgust in her expression. "Keep away from her. Let her move on quickly and easily. Do _not _make this harder for her, or so help me Gray..."

"What are you _talking _about?" he exploded. "If I don't know what the hell I did, I –" Memories from that morning came rushing back to him all at once, and his face dropped. If she had mentioned anything about that kiss... "I – this isn't about Veronica, is it?"

Pure disbelief flitted across Mary's face as Gray one hundred percent confirmed all she needed to know. How could he... be so _casual _about it?

"I've always prided myself on being... somewhat ladylike," she said softly. "So I'm not going to give in and slap you right now. But I am... you have no idea how tempting it is, Gray." She started walking towards the library, turning and glancing over her shoulder one last time. "You know... there was a time when I thought that _she _didn't deserve _you_. I've never been so wrong in my life."

**xxx**

**So: starting on the 19****th**** and running the whole week after that is my exam period. Which means no writing. HOWEVER. After that is winter break. Which means lots and lots of writing ^^. So don't fret, and if it takes me more than a month again, I'll... well, I haven't decided. You guys can think up a suitable punishment.**


	51. Chapter 51

**I'm fully expecting that you've all grown up, married, had kids, and possibly watched them graduate college in the time it's been taking me to update lately. Life is insanely hectic – I cannot WAIT until Summer, I am telling you. But I'm so so so sorry.**

**Again, I'm not going to write review replies. I've gotten a little bit worried about them after getting a few PM's – I'm a little nervous that people think I'm only writing them to boost the chapter word count. Because this is a relatively short chapter, and there were a lot of reviews for the last, I'm not comfortable taking up literally half the chapter with review replies. HOWEVER, I absolutely loved seeing a whole lot of new readers last chapter, and of course, the ever loyal readers that I don't know what I'd do without. ^^ thank you guys!**

**By the way – a thousand reviews? I don't completely understand it, but oh my GOD, thank you so much. It's so wonderful to know that people are really, truly enjoying the story.**

**So here's another semi-fillerish building chapter... but bear in mind, NEXT chapter? Things happen in a big way. Look forward to it :D**

**xxx**

In the twenty-four years of his life, there were two things that Gray had never done and never imagined he would do. First, he had never hit a woman. And second, he had never murdered anyone.

Oh Goddess, _how _he longed to change that right now.

His footsteps were heavy on ground as he stormed up to the inn. He'd just been lectured by Mary – _Mary –_ and while he still had no damn idea what he'd done in the first place, he'd like to know just how the hell she and Jill had found out about Veronica kissing him.

Then again, it wasn't that hard to guess who the person who couldn't keep her mouth shut was. There had been, after all, a grand total of two people in that room. It was like the woman was purposely trying to make things worse for him. What was this; her 'payback' for being rejected? If that was such an issue, _why _would she even try kissing him in the first place?

Well, whatever she was trying to do, it definitely wasn't appreciated.

"Gray, have you thought any more about –" Ann began, racing up to him as he pushed the doors open. He shook his head impatiently, walking straight past her and up the stairs, leaving the waitress to glare after him. She'd been in a state of complete frenzy since both Gray and Jill had stepped down from their positions in her wedding, begging the former on every occasion she saw him and maintaining a stony silent treatment towards the latter. Of course, silent treatment was never as effective when the other person was acting the same way.

His footsteps quickening, Gray's fists were clenched tightly as he approached the husband and wife's room. He slammed on the door, truly not giving a damn what Tom's reaction was going to be – impatiently waiting for all of three seconds before giving the door an aggressive kick. Too aggressive perhaps; he blanched somewhat as the flimsy piece of wood snapped clean through and made a hole easily big enough for somebody Veronica's size to walk through.

After his quick act of violence, Gray felt his heart rate slow as he calmed down somewhat – his anger giving way to an irritation that the couple weren't home and an apprehensive worry as to what Ann's reaction would be. Ducking slightly to peer through the gap in the door, he furrowed his brow at the empty room and hurriedly walked back downstairs. And there, standing in the corner of the room was Tom, speaking a mile a minute to somebody on the phone. Impatient and honestly not caring about the man's opinion of him, Gray walked over to him without a second thought.

"I know... I know. It's not like I don't want to come back – believe me, this place is hell. It's like everything you've ever seen about those really nothing, awful country towns squished onto a square metre." There was a slight pause as Tom leaned forward onto the counter. "No, not literally a metre..." he glanced up casually for a second before doing a double-take; his eyes widened and he backed away slightly as he caught a glimpse of an extremely annoyed Gray. "Look, I have to go. Something's come up. I'll see you soon though – yeah, you too. Bye." He put the phone down gently and cleared his throat a few times, nervously adjusting his shirt before slowly turning towards the blacksmith. "Yeah?"

"Where's your wife?"

"Oh," Tom said, looking relieved that Gray's murderous expression wasn't fully directed at him and not seeming to care in the slightest that he was looking for Veronica. "No idea."

"You must have some idea," the taller man scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

Tom paled slightly. "Look, I'm telling you I have no idea. She ran out earlier and I haven't seen her since."

"I –" Gray began, cutting himself off abruptly as he noticed Ann heading upstairs, whistling cheerfully, her arms loaded up with clean bedding. "Never mind." Ducking away, he walked out of the inn quickly – unfortunately, not quick enough to avoid hearing a blood-curdling shriek of anguish coming from the red haired waitress as she discovered the abused door and the thunderous sound of footsteps trampling down the stairs – footsteps which incidentally made him pick up the pace of his own.

Call it fate, or intuition, or a subconscious effort to move to the one place Ann couldn't strangle him, but the blacksmith's footprints eventually led him to the church. He hesitated outside the doors for a few moments, half tempted to go inside and half tempted to continue his search for Veronica – before one side had a brief victory and he pushed his way in.

Oh Goddess.

Noticing the redhead sitting quietly in the pews at the front, Gray's jaw dropped as the cruel irony of the situation nearly choked him. He couldn't kill her in a church.

There was an audible sigh from Veronica as she lifted her head and let her eyes wander around the area, lingering on the door of the confessional for a moment before she rose to her feet and turned to leave. She jumped and squealed slightly when she observed Gray standing completely still and silent, bringing one hand to her heart and clapping one over her mouth. "Don't – jeez, Gray, do you just lurk in the shadows to terrify people or something?"

"Did you tell Jill that you kissed me?" he asked plainly, not bothering with small talk.

"Of course not –"

"Did you tell Mary? Tom? Jack? Anyone?"

"Are you insane?" she snapped, folding both arms across her chest defensively. "I'm freaking _married_. I have a kid. I'm not tripping over myself to run around, yelling to random people that I kissed some guy who... you know, kissed me back and rejected me afterwards."

"Kissed you back? Are you _seri_ –"

"The point is," she said plainly, "In my mind... it's gone. It's done. It never happened." She raised an eyebrow as her heart rate started to slow down some, seeing that the blacksmith's face, while still lined with frustration, was beginning to look more reasonable. "And if you _ever_ want a chance of getting Jill back – or hell, don't want Tom and Jack to _murder_ you... I suggest that you forget about it, too."

"I didn't do anything wrong," he began slowly. "I don't see why I should have to keep secrets –"

"You just said it yourself, Gray," Veronica retorted coldly. "When you were all worried about me telling Jill. It wouldn't make a difference to her who initiated the kiss if she heard about it... she'd just be devastated that it happened."

His eyes narrowed as he grudgingly accepted the woman's victory over him. "I don't see how you could kiss me – do that to your own sister."

"It's not like you two are together," she hummed, offering a slight smile at the way his expression froze.

She was feeling more in control than she had in weeks – but that feeling of triumph soon left her as she remembered what had been plaguing her all day. "Um... can I just... ask you something?" she put in slowly, her gaze lowering. "Seriously? And I want an honest answer... please..."

"What?" Gray snapped, rolling his eyes at her insolence.

Taking a deep breath in, she began. "Why, uh..." she twisted her hair, looking anywhere but at him in a moment of uncharacteristic shyness. "I just wanted to know... why you didn't kiss me back. I mean, after the initial... you know."

There was a moment of total silence as color drained from Gray's face and intensified in Veronica's. "Are you _serious_?" he choked after a long pause.

"I-I just mean, like," she stuttered, "Do you not find me attractive? Because I – oh God, never mind. I know how it sounds..."

"If you think for one second that it has anything to do with _you_, you're horribly mistaken."

"... I'm not following," she murmured.

"It's nothing to do with you," he told her, completely exasperated. "It's all Jill. It's always Jill. Can't you see that?"

"But – I mean – what's so special about her?"

"What's so special about _you_?" he said in a low voice, watching as the woman's face paled completely. "Go on – tell me why I should hurt the first woman I've loved... for you."

There was a silence that seemed to stretch forever as Veronica lowered her gaze to the floor, blinking furiously and trying to keep her breathing shallow as for once, somebody's words actually hit home. It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to raise her head and give a sharp, cutting reply – it was just that... she had nothing. He'd put her in a situation that she couldn't very well talk her way out of. 'I'm prettier' and 'I'm smarter' just sounded so goddamn juvenile now, it was ridiculous.

But... what else _was _there?

Was she kinder than Jill, or more... 'morally correct'? Of course not; but why would she want to be? That was why Jill was so gullible. Was Veronica more rational, yes – after all, she hadn't been the one to break up with her boyfriend over a simple misunderstanding. But somehow... it didn't feel like enough.

"She couldn't have loved you... to leave you like that," the red haired woman eventually murmured, pulling out anything and everything to try to cause him a little bit of pain; to regain some control. The only reaction she got was a disgusted glare.

"You would willingly cheat on your husband, then tell me that Jill didn't love me? Don't be such a damn hypocrite, Veronica."

And that was it – she had nothing.

"She'll never come back to you," she called out bitterly as Gray started heading back out the church doors. He scoffed, tilting his head to the side before turning to face her once more.

"And how can you possibly be the judge of that?"

"I know – I know my sister," she stumbled. "There are some things that she won't – can't – forgive."

"Do you know something about it?" Gray asked sharply. "Because I have no idea what I've done – so if you do, that'd be _really _helpful – but if you don't, I'm going to ask you to keep the hell out of it. Stop grasping at straws. I'm done, Veronica – you've stretched my patience and I've just snapped. I don't have time for girls like you." She was silent and he grimaced, shaking his head. "That's what I thought."

Watching in disbelief as he walked away, her heart clenching painfully, Veronica stared into the distance for a few moments. God, she _hated _him. How dare he speak to her like that? How dare he try to guilt her? Didn't he realize that she was the innocent one – the injured party?

What _right _did he have to... to...

To give her the wake up call... she'd so desperately needed.

**xxx**

Five years old.

She'd known him all the way back then, Jill thought absent-mindedly, tracing the little red-haired boy's face with one finger. Before Tom. Before her school friends. Before anyone in Mineral Town.

_But even those old pictures have begun to fade,  
Please tell me she's not real,  
And that you're really coming home to stay._

Jill muffled an exasperated groan as she snapped the photo album shut, closing her eyes and leaning back against the couch. She _knew _looking through those damn pictures was going to be a bad idea, but did that stop her? She was a goddamn masochist.

But he was just so adorable –

She slapped her own hand away as she reached to open the album again, forcing herself to shove it aside and stand up, crossing the room as if being physically further away would eliminate the temptation. What had Mary told her to do? Whatever it took to let herself heal... without letting herself wallow. Looking at those photographs was practically an ocean – a pretty big swimming pool, at least – of wallowing.

A knock on the door was a welcome relief – probably Mary checking up on her, Jill thought with a wry smile. Their conversation the previous day had been invaluable to her... after crying, and crying, and a little bit of talking, and crying, and crying, and crying, and crying, the librarian had explained exactly what she'd been through with Gray. And while... Jill was nowhere _near _okay, it kind of... helped to know that somebody else had been there. And Mary had been so sweet and comforting about the entire thing – it was strange that Jill had always seen her as a cold, aloof person when she'd just proved herself to be exactly the contrary.

"Hey," she said absent-mindedly, pulling the door open and stepping aside. "I – oh."

"You don't mind if I come in?" Tom asked, not waiting for an answer as he breezed into the small house. He turned once he was inside and fixed Jill with a wide smile. "How are you?"

"..."

"I've been worried about you," he continued smoothly, not missing a beat. "I haven't seen you around much... and whenever I do, you're looking... well, exhausted."

"I'm okay," she replied quietly, still looking more than a little confused. Her gaze grew somewhat colder as she lifted her chin slightly. "What are you really here for, Tom?"

"You think I have some ulterior motive?" he asked, shaking his head as if horrified. "Jill... you know how much you mean to me. You were my whole life for so long." He smiled as he took a step closer. "I can't stand the idea that this guy... Gray... that he's hurt you like this."

"It's not like I haven't been hurt before," Jill said coldly, making the dark-haired man wince.

"Don't be like that, sweetie. I understand you're in pain at the moment, but... remember... I'm here to support you. I'm on your side, even if Veronica's not."

She did a double-take at that, staring at Tom in disbelief. "W-what do you know about... them? Veronica and Gray?"

A little puzzled at the direction their conversation had taken, Tom shrugged, still smiling. "It doesn't take a genius to know that _something's _going on there. I... personally, I've been expecting it from her. She was never one to be faithful."

"Seems like you two are perfect together then," the blonde mumbled.

"Listen, Jill," he cut across, obviously ignoring her statement, "I just want you to know that... he's not worth crying over. He's not worth missing. He never deserved you in the slightest, you know -"

"You don't know him," she shot back defensively. "Don't say he's not worth it."

"Why on earth are you defending him?" Tom asked incredulously. "Come on, Jill. He's a blacksmith that you've known for a couple of years. You've known me since you were six or seven."

"I met Gray when I was five," she said icily, "And I've never loved anyone else as much as I love him."

"Loved him," Tom corrected, his expression beginning to look a little annoyed. "And we both know that's nonsense – you don't move on from your first love. _I_ was your first love, and even if you and Gray were born in adjacent hospital beds or something, there's nothing you can do to change that. Go on – say you didn't love me first."

"Of course I loved you first," she murmured, "But that doesn't mean I loved you most."

"Jill," he snarled, truly exasperated now. What the hell was she trying to say? He calmed down some as he decided to pull out the big artillery. "I... I loved you so much, and a big part of me still does. You were the reason I woke up in the mornings... the one thing I went to sleep thinking about. And damn it Jill, no matter how you try to hide it, or protect your heart, I know you felt the same."

Her eyes were narrowed as she stared at him. "Did you _practice _those lines? Tom, when did this conversation turn to you and I anyway?"

"I don't know why you can't see it, Jill," he said softly. "You and me – that's how it's supposed to end up. That's how it started, and fate wants us to be together. I'm sick of fighting what we both know. We're _meant _to be together; that's why Gray and Veronica screwed us over. It's not about them – it's about us. I mean, let's face it – your heart never really belonged to him. It's been mine all along."

There was a long pause of total silence – Tom had a hopeful, pleading expression on his face while Jill was completely frozen.

"I'm sorry," she choked after a few moments longer, "_What?_"

"I mean it."

"What the hell are you on right now?" she exploded suddenly, clenching her fists. "Believe me, my heart is well and truly his! Where the hell is this coming from? You – Goddess, you up and left me for _how _long without giving a damn – and now years later you're saying, what, that you still love me? You _married _my _sister_. You have a daughter! You –"

He crossed the room impatiently and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her to him and kissing her forcefully. It barely took a second for Jill to react; wrenching herself away, drawing one hand back, and smacking him across the face sharply. He reeled backwards, his eyebrows flying up as he lifted one hand to his stinging cheek.

"Be like that," he growled, clenching his other hand in fury. "Never mind that I just gave you the opportunity of a lifetime. You dumb, worthless cow – I can see clearly now why I chose Veronica. Listen to me, you stupid bimbo – you're nothing compared to her. Maybe you had good looks once, but this god awful country town's long robbed you of them. You never had brains. You never had a personality of your own. Even your pathetic blacksmith boy didn't think you were good enough, and he's no prize himself."

"How can you –" Jill began, ignoring the painful sting that came with each of his comments. "You just said you loved me –"

"Whatever, Jill – you missed your chance. I would pity you, but honestly... I don't think you even deserve pity." Turning on his heel, he walked out of the little farmhouse, slamming the door behind him and giving an exasperated snarl as soon as he was out of sight and hearing.

_That _idea had failed. With the blonde's recent breakdown, he'd assumed she would be vulnerable and trusting – and considering Veronica's major stuff-up, forcing a break up between Jill and Gray... his wife might as well have ripped the company contract into pieces. If he were with Jill, on the other hand, not only was the chance there again... with Jill as the older sister, she would be taking control of the company before Veronica anyway. But no, the stubborn, love-sick brat decided to obsess over her blacksmith ex instead.

Her freaking loss.

**xxx**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU –"

Oh, she was going to kill him.

Narrowing her eyes as she blushed heavily, Mary turned on her heel to walk directly back out the inn's front door that she'd just come through – to no avail; Jack ran to grab her wrist and pull her back in to where her parents, Ann, Cliff, Doug, Karen, Rick, Popuri, Elli and Tim, and the rest of the bar's usual patrons were standing around a strawberry cake with twenty-two candles burning almost as brightly as her blushing face.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR MARY," the group sang loudly and horribly off-tune, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU."

Breathing a sigh of relief that the worst was over, she –

"HIP HIP, HURRAY," Jack continued, winking at her teasingly as she fixed him with a murderous glare until he'd led the crowd in clapping twenty two times and 'one to make her grow', and then offered twenty two birthday kisses directly in front of her parents – Mary shot him a look that could have killed puppies, Anna laughed and Basil half-smiled, half narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

As if that wasn't enough unwanted public attention for the librarian, he quickly placed a cone-shaped birthday hat on her head while simultaneously keeping far enough out of her reach to avoid severe maiming.

But when the cake had been cut and handed out, occupying the majority of the guests, Jack glanced up to see Mary standing directly in front of him – arms folded across her chest, left eye twitching ever so slightly.

"Surprise," he beamed awkwardly, wincing as she raised a violent hand to him. "Aw, come on – you know you enjoyed it."

"Enjoyment... total embarrassment..."

He was quiet for a few moments, then smiled half-heartedly. "If you really hated it... I'm sorry. It's just... you hadn't mentioned your birthday at all to me, so I figured you wouldn't have mentioned it to anyone else either. You deserve a lot more than a little party like this. But I'm... sorry if you don't like it."

There was a moment of silence before Mary sighed, a genuine smile on her face as she rolled her eyes. "I can't be annoyed with you now. I guess I – well. Thank you." She bit her lip, glancing around at her mother and father. "I would hug you, but –"

"I know," Jack retorted with a quick smile. "Your parents."

If he were going to be absolutely truthful... that hurt, just a little. The fact that she wouldn't tell her parents there was anything between them, when all he wanted to do was show her off. He wanted a proper relationship with her, some commitment, to tell the truth – but there was no point if all they could do was sneak around. Still... he respected her choice, even if he didn't completely understand or appreciate it.

"Ah – I have something for you," he continued, a proper grin on his face now. "I just picked it up when I was in the city with Ann, so... I hope you like it." He handed her a small black box with a gold ribbon tied around it, making her eyebrows fly up. "Impressed by the box... good sign," he commentated, looking adorably anxious as he watched her slowly lift the lid.

One hand automatically flew up to her mouth and she froze for a few moments, before holding up a delicate, impossibly thin gold chain with a pendant attached in the shape of a beautiful, flowing letter 'M', with what she sincerely hoped wasn't a real diamond glittering on the last curl of the letter.

"If you want something different –" Jack was babbling, talking quickly as he did when he was nervous. Raising an eyebrow, Mary placed one finger over his mouth to silence him.

"The only way it could be more perfect," she said quietly, turning and holding her hair up so he could clasp the chain around her neck, "Is if it was the letter 'J' instead of the letter 'M'."

There was an awkward pause before Jack span her around to face him, his hands placed on both her forearms and his head tilted as a smile played on his lips. "You're so damn gorgeous."

"I can't believe I said that," she said, a mortified expression on her face.

"Are you going to take it back?"

"... No," she said reluctantly, trying to stare at the floor unsuccessfully – Jack had one hand under her chin and was constantly attempting to make her look at him.

"I love when you say sweet things like that," he grinned. "They're so rare, I've learned to really appreciate them when they come." There was another pause while Jack blanched, receiving an intense scowl. "I mean... you're always sweet, clearly." Mary simply folded both arms across her chest, the glare not wavering for a second. "Don't be mad," he pleaded, dropping his gaze so he looked like a little boy in trouble.

"You're too attractive for your own good," she grumbled, before her eyes widened and she slapped both hands over her mouth. "What is going on with the compliments?"

"What was that?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow in teasing disbelief.

"I – it wasn't –"

"You think I'm sexy." The grin on his face widened as the blush on Mary's rapidly deepened.

"No! I didn't – I didn't _say_ that –"

"Oh. Well – enjoy your party and I'll just leave." There was a brief silence. "Sexily."

"Don't push me, Jack Evans," she growled. He laughed warmly and reached out before pulling back, directing a fond, almost sad smile at her.

"It's times like this when I just want to hug you," he murmured. "It's... slightly irritating that I can't."

"I know the feeling," Mary replied quietly. "But –"

"I know," he interrupted. He glanced over his shoulder, biting his lip as he noticed Ann standing some distance away, staring at him blatantly. "I should... see what she wants. I'll be back later, I guess." He leaned in as if to kiss the smaller librarian, then suddenly thought better of it and made do with another almost-smile before turning away.

Walking towards the redhead, Jack couldn't help but observe her strange expression – a mix of nervousness, annoyance, and something like hope. "So hey," she said as soon as he was within hearing range. "How would you feel about saving my life?"

"Well... I'll have to think over the benefits and disadvantages," he said slowly. "On the benefits side... no more Ann. But the disadvantages... huh. Goddess, I can't think of _any_."

"Uh huh, yes, very funny," the waitress said with a completely forced smile.

Jack blanched. "You pretended to be amused by one of my jokes. How serious _is _this?"

"Very," she groaned, beckoning for him to follow her behind the bar and take a seat. She glanced up at him, then grabbed a dishcloth and started twisting it in her hands. "So, uh... we've been through a lot together. We're best friends. We're best friends, right? And don't forget our trip to the city together –"

"Ann," Jack cut her off quickly, "If you're trying to get a favor from me, our trip to the city is so not the best thing to be reminding me of."

She scowled for a moment before remembering that she was meant to be getting on his good side. "Well – I remember how sweet and kind and wonderful you were throughout that experience. Without you, it would have been truly – hell, I can't do this. How can people suck up like this?" She took a deep breath, glancing at the ceiling. "Okay. I asked Jill and Gray to be the maid of honor and best man at my wedding. Ah... obvious problem. The two of them apparently can't tolerate each other for long enough to be there on the most important day of my life –" she cut herself off, holding both hands up as if calming herself. "Not the point. Jack... I need – I _want –_ you and Mary to take their places."

"Uh... wow," Jack replied, both his eyebrows flying up. "That's... that's a pretty big deal, Ann." Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of Gray stormily entering the inn. "I'd – no joke, I'd be thrilled to do it. I can't speak for Mary, but I think she'd be delighted too. It's just..." he hesitated. "Maybe you should make completely certain that Gray and Jill are definitely out before you lock us in."

"Jill's out," Ann said simply. "And I don't think there's anything that could make Gray – hold on. GRAY." She waved the blacksmith over furiously, ignoring the way heads turned towards her in bewilderment.

"Yeah?" he asked, clearly not in a wonderful mood.

"You're certain you don't want to be Cliff's best man?"

"We've discussed this a thousand times," he growled. "I'm sick of it, Ann. We're just repeating the same thing over and over; I'm _not _doing it."

"Cool. Meet your replacement," she said with a relieved grin. Gray had to smile slightly, nodding at Jack in a way that seemed to be wishing him luck before taking a few steps towards the stairs. "Hey, wait," Ann called out suddenly. "Upstairs... the door's been smashed in or something, I don't know. You didn't hear anything, did you?"

His face completely blank, Gray shrugged. "I'd ask Tom about it. The man's got an insane temper."

"Tom," the waitress snarled, practically leaping off her bar stool. "Right." In a matter of seconds, Jack found himself suddenly deserted – Gray escaping upstairs, Ann racing off to heaven knows where in search of Tom.

"Bye guys," he mumbled to himself. From across the room, Mary made brief eye-contact with him and he beckoned for her to come over. Glancing over her shoulder at her parents, she hesitated before hurrying across the room towards him.

"Yes?"

"So, uh... good – surprising – news," he said with a smile. "Ann's had a bridal party situation; she asked Jill and Gray and then they had that fight and bailed on her."

There was an awkward pause as Mary raised an eyebrow. "Oh. That _is _good news."

"No," he scoffed, "Not that. Ah... because the two of them have hands down refused... she wants us to be the maid of honor and best man. Sure, I feel a little second preference, but it sounds like a nice little offer to me."

"Oh!" Mary said, her face lighting up before fading somewhat. "But, Jack..." she was quiet for a moment. "The only reason Jill and Gray would have stepped down is because they didn't want to be put into that situation together. Maybe... Jill would change her mind if she knew that her brother was going to be the best man instead. And I'm certain Ann would prefer –"

"That's not an option," Jack cut across simply. "Jill had her chance and she didn't want it. Ann's not going to take her back. And I'm not doing it without you. If Jill has a problem with that – which she won't – that's just too bad, because Ann asked _you_ and I, not Jill and I." He reached out with one hand and pinched her cheek playfully. "You and I are kind of a package deal now."

She tried to hide her smile, but couldn't entirely conceal the twinkle in her eyes. "Charmer."

"It's what I do," Jack shrugged nonchalantly before grinning. "Seriously now... ah, Starry Night's on Friday. If you wanted to come over for dinner... I guess you could tell your parents that Jill invited you or something."

A half-smile was all she could manage. "I'm tired of lying to them, Jack."

"Oh." He appeared to close off, intense hurt apparent in his face as he glanced away. "Well, that's okay. We don't need to spend the festival together; I guess I could use the time to catch up with Jill or –"

"It's not that I don't want to spend Starry Night with you," she said quickly, the blush on her face gradually building. "It's just... I was thinking maybe... _you _could spend it with my parents and I."

Silence. "But then they'd –"

"I'll tell them tonight," she said, a soft smile on her face as she stared at the ground. "You're not... the kind of thing I like to keep a secret. I know I'd feel better if this –" she gestured between them, "– was out in the open. So if it's okay with you..."

Jack was staring at her, his eyebrows raised and a slight smirk on his face. "You just asked me on a date. Dinner with the parents. How serious _is _this relationship?"

She scowled, embarrassed. "W-well, if you don't want to rush anything, I can tell them Jill asked me over. I just thought... it's been a pretty long time..."

"Damn right it's been a long time," Jack nodded, smiling down at her. "And I'm... not the most patient man. So if you're sure you're willing to tell your parents... make this official..." he examined her expression for any trace of reluctance.

"I'm certain," Mary said simply. The smile that lit up Jack's face was like nothing she'd seen before.

"It's a date."

**xxx**


	52. Chapter 52

**I'm setting a kind-of record, huh? Well, as of recently. This is my fastest.. and longest update in awhile; the chapter itself is standing at over nine thousand words and it took me what, two weeks? A little more? :D**

**So as I said, big dramatic chapter. A little bit of bad language and what have you, but nothing exceptionally terrible. ENJOY. ^^**

**DoubleKK – **Haha, I'm sorry! I promise this isn't a filler chapter. Promise promise promise. And I think that you'll enjoy this one... I enjoyed writing it xD and it's ACTION PACKED. So you can't be mad at me, la la la la la.

**xPaparazzixChickx – **my Dad actually demanded to see what I was reading because I literally nearly died laughing at the idea of Mary 'coming out' to her parents... like, with Jill instead of Jack. And Jack's reaction. I don't know if he'd be very very pissed or very very pleased xD. Your review made me smile and giggle and all that good stuff, and if some movie director calls me up to sign the story, I'll totally hire you as my publicist. Kay? :D

**Kitty go moo – **Yeah, Veronica seems to be coming around a little bit. I'm glad you like Mary and Jack together – so do I ^^ they're awfully fun to write. Thank you for the review!

**chocobo86 –** You know I love them both... I won't be too mean to them now :D but thank you very much, and I hope this update was fast enough and enjoyable enough for you!

**AsianFlipGurl – **Well, I'm glad you didn't think it was too horribly filler. Aww, thank you – I have so much fun writing this thing, and it's over... quite soon, and it's just going to be horrible for me! I don't know what I'll do when this is finished xD probably do my homework once in awhile or something. *SHOCK HORROR.* I'm glad you're still enjoying it, and I hope you like this chapter as well!

**Icefire149 – **I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and I hope this one doesn't disappoint. Haha, I hope this was... kind of quick enough for you!

**Smash Genesis – **Aw, I think Jack and Mary were kind of trying to be subtle about their relationship... and they probably THOUGHT they were all secretive and whatnot... but at the same time, I really don't think there was anybody in Mineral Town who didn't know something was going on between them xD. Hope you like the chapter :)

**Random Jelly Beans – **To sum it up, :D – happy reading. Haha!

**kelley28 – **Ahaha, yeah, I think Ann would have had some very serious words with Tom about the door... that the poor guy had nothing to do with xD thanks for the review!

**Harvest Princess – **Oh damn. Well I hope your great great great grandchildren are still enjoying the story, and I apologize again for my super slow updates recently :3 hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Remaken'd**** – **Oh hey! You changed your pen name? :D well, I still like you AND your reviews, and happy birthday for a few days ago! Haha, I don't think Gray goes around hitting pregnant women all that often... AND I'M TALKING TO YOU ON MSN RIGHT NOW. ^^ enjoy!

** – **Aw, I'm glad! They're pretty much my favourite couple, too... they're just freaking adorable together, and writing them is so much fun... with all the Gray/Jill drama going on, Jack and Mary are just all cool and peaceful and funny and sweet together xD.

**BlazieAura –** Oh wow, thank you so much. It's seriously so amazing when new readers come along and enjoy the story... it makes me happy. :D and yes, all the way down here in Australia it's still Winter... but I've only got a couple of days left until Spring, and it's getting warmer, so hurrah!

**Miss Psychic Lady – **Haha, thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and thanks for the review! :3

**The Silent Calling – **Augh, if my parents tried to put me on a limit for computer time, I think I'd kill someone. Then again, you probably do your homework because of it, so that's a good thing! I'm so happy you liked it, and I hope this one doesn't disappoint!

**Music Room 3 – **Well, here's the next chapter – I hope you like it, and thank you so so so much. ^^

**Happibunni –** Aww, I'm happy you laughed. Hopefully you kept reading... if not, thanks for reviewing anyway xD.

**xTrueEmotion –** LOL, I missed you too! I really really need to start updating more frequently so I can stay in better contact with you guys :D and hopefully this chapter... brightens your day, or something. ^^

**PixieBby – **Ahaha, I'm sorry. You would have gotten up to chapter 28 or wherever it was and been all... 'Okay, that was dramatic, but now happy Gray Jill time!' Only to get up to chapter 51 and see that they're still having dramas. Ah, I'm terrible xD. I honestly think Jack and Mary aren't anywhere NEAR as secretive as they'd like to think they are. Everybody knows... they just don't KNOW they know. And yeah... Jill's quite the emotional. She reminds me of myself at times, too... but I think most of us girls have that in us. Enjoy the chapter!

**Killer Of MarySues – **Sorry! I promise there's more of what you're looking for in this chapter, without giving too much away. I hope you like it :3

**ArtAddiction2379 –** Haha, I'll see what I can do to make Tom suffer xD I'm guessing that pretty soon you'll like him even LESS, if that's possible. Yeah, poor Gray still hasn't been told what he supposedly did wrong.. I can't even imagine how frustrating that would be, haha. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like this chapter too :D

**Crazy Cinnamon Goodness –** Ah no, Gray and Mary won't be together in this story. I don't really want to give too much away, but you won't be sad about THAT for too much longer. Thanks for the review!

**Dimly – **Ah, your review made me so very happy. Even if I feel a little guilty for keeping you up until five in the morning XD. Haha... no, I really don't think Tom has any redeeming values. He's my villain villain. Veronica's more my... misguided villain. ^^ you're exactly right, she's more a spoiled child than an evil mastermind. And even if I can't use it, I would love love love to hear your suggestion. And Jack and Mary... I love them too. I love them, I love them. Thanks for reading until 5 in the morning, and reviewing! :P

**sarah3905780 –** Yep, you're not the only one who's wanted to slap Jill around a little bit. Same with Veronica... and Tom... and a lot of characters. I'm tempted to lock them all in a room together and let hell break loose; may the best man win. XD I'm glad you liked it so much, and your review brightened my day. Enjoy!

**Jean Cooper – **Ah Val, I love you and your last minute reviews xD. I wish I had a Jack of my own, too... but at the same time, I imagine he'd be quite the difficult to put up with 24-7. HERE'S YOUR ASAP UPDATE! :D

**xxx**

"Nervous?" Jill asked quietly, smiling slightly as her brother re-adjusted his collar for close to the hundredth time that evening. "Come on, Jack... it's not like you've never met Anna and Basil before. They love you."

"So we thought, Jill, so we thought," he muttered anxiously, scrutinizing himself in the mirror. They were in the living area of their small house – Jill was cross-legged on the couch with a blanket, watching an old Christmas special. Jack, on the other hand, was alternating between pacing and staring in the mirror. "But you've seen Basil get a little uncomfortable whenever I flirt with Mary in public. He'll probably kill me when he knows I'm... kind of dating her. And if her parents don't approve –"

"She won't care. She's crazy about you; it won't matter to her whether her parents approve or not."

"But I'd really like to have their approval. If they don't like the relationship, they won't let her go out places and –"

"First, she's twenty two. They don't have that control over her anymore," Jill pointed out. "And second... you _know _Anna and Basil adore you, and if you freak out now it's not going to help anybody, least of all you."

"But I –"

"Stop."

"Yeah, but –"

"Don't."

"If you –"

"Jack!" She exploded, pulling a pillow from behind herself and launching it at him furiously. He caught it without any effort, throwing it back gently and running one hand through his hair.

"You're right. Sorry. I'm just... she means a hell of a lot to me, and her family's approval does too."

"They already approve of you," Jill reminded him. "Anna, especially, has been pushing for you two to get together since you came to Mineral Town. If anybody's going to be nervous about tonight, I'd say it's her – trying to be the impressive future mother-in-law."

"Mother-in-law?" Jack scowled, finally turning his attention away from the mirror. "Don't get ahead of yourself there, little sister." Jill rolled her eyes as he turned back to the mirror, then to the clock. "How long does it take me to walk to their house?"

"Not too long," Jill shrugged. "If you want to be there for six and not have to run, I say you leave now."

"Now?" Jack repeated, his expression faltering. "_Now_ now?"

"Good luck," Jill said simply, pulling her blanket up to cover her shoulders. "Have a nice night."

It took about five minutes longer, but eventually Jack managed to force himself out the door and start walking reluctantly towards Mary's house. He truly was sickeningly nervous, and that in itself was almost a new experience for him. It wasn't only that he'd never cared for a girl so much before – it was that he'd never actually, formally met a girl's parents before. He'd never had a serious enough relationship. So even with all his experience in meeting girls, charming girls, dating girls and... unfortunately, breaking up with girls – right now, he might as well have been fourteen years old, back on his first date ever.

Trying to take his mind off the impending dinner, Jack let his thoughts wander to the little sister he'd just left home alone. Mary had offered for her to come for dinner, too – and truth be told, it was possible that he'd feel a little more comfortable if Jill _had _come – but the blonde wouldn't hear of 'intruding', as she put it. She insisted that she was perfectly happy to stay home – of course, you could see in her face that she wasn't happy at all. The Starry Night festival was ultimately for couples and families; but Jill was no longer part of a couple, and her only family member was ditching her. It made him feel sickeningly guilty to be leaving her alone, but Jill would have been _furious _if Jack had thought about missing dinner with Mary for her.

And... he did want to spend time with Mary. It was just this particular situation that had him nervous. If Anna and Basil decided that they didn't want him seeing her, he didn't know what he'd do.

Well... he was about to find out, Jack realized, his eyes widening in apprehension as he found that his thoughts had taken him all the way to Mary's front door. He knocked quickly before he could turn the other way and bail.

There was a muffled squeal from inside the house, obviously from Anna, and the sound of high heels clicking across the floorboards before the sound stopped right next to the door.

"Mary, straighten your skirt," Jack could hear the woman call out, making him smirk. "And – fix your hair, darling. You've got some loose strands that just – don't look at me like that; you want to impress him don't you? No, brush them to the side. Maybe you –"

"Answer the door, Mom," Mary's voice growled out.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you, and when he doesn't want to kiss you at the end of the night because – fine, fine!" There was a silent pause for the space of about three seconds, before the door was pulled over and Anna beamed welcomingly. "Good evening, Jack!"

"Hi Anna," he grinned, stepping in and kissing the older woman on the cheek before letting his gaze travel around the room. Basil and Mary were standing next to each other in the back corner of the room – the former had a cautious smile on his face, while the latter was still blushing a furious red thanks to the earlier exchange with her mother. "Basil..." he walked over to shake his hand before turning to the librarian. "Hey Mares," he said as he ducked to kiss her on the cheek as well, making Basil cough and Anna smile widely. "Your hair looks fine to me," he murmured with a wink, watching in amusement as the girl's face blanched completely.

"Come along, sit down," Anna beamed, her long navy skirt swishing as she made her way over to the oven. "Dinner won't be a minute." She got to work preparing their meal, shooting random glances over her shoulder at Jack and Mary every few seconds. The kitchen table was rectangular and built to seat six people, with a chair at each end and then two chairs on each side of the table. Jack and Mary quickly sat down beside each other and Basil took a seat on the other side, opposite Mary. "It's so nice to have you over, Jack – finally," the dark-haired woman continued. "How are things on the farm?"

"Everything's fine," he said, getting to his feet as Anna moved various dishes from the bench to the table. "Do you want any help with –"

"Sit down!" she instructed, pointing him right back into his seat. "You're our guest, Jack, and I don't want to think about what kind of hostess I'd be if I asked you to help with dinner." Finally, she placed the last dish on the table and sat down next to her husband who was already helping himself to the vegetables. "It's a lovely night. Then again, the festive atmosphere probably helps. Festival days always seem more pleasant than others, don't they?"

"Yeah, I've noticed that too," Jack nodded in agreement. "This is brilliant, Anna," he complimented, gesturing to the food on his plate.

"Oh, don't," the woman said, blushing as she waved his compliment off. The group of four ate in relative silence for a few minutes before Anna looked up and cleared her throat slightly. "So Jack, truthfully, what's the relationship between you and my daughter?"

The daughter in question promptly choked. Jack automatically put one hand out and patted her back lightly, giving Anna a smile. "I'll be honest with you, Anna – I'm not entirely sure."

"Well... you have to give me _something_," she pleaded. "You have no idea how many times I've asked Mary; she absolutely refuses to talk to me about her relationship with you. I'm sure you'll be more open with me."

"Mom," Mary said sharply, her face an incredibly peculiar shade, "Honestly, stop."

"Oh, Jack doesn't mind," the woman said, waving one hand at her daughter. "You don't mind, do you Jack?"

"The only reason I mind is because Mary does," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Are the two of you romantically involved?"

"Mom, you _know _this," Mary mumbled. Of all the times the ground had to refused to open up and swallow her...

"How would I know?" Anna said, ignoring how uncomfortable her husband was also looking with the conversation. "You never talk to me about it. The only things I hear come from Manna and Sasha, and you know that's not enough to rely on. I just wish you'd open up to me every once in awhile. It's important that I know – besides, I was your age, I've been through it all. You could come to me for advice and you _know _I'd be happy to give it to you, but you never –"

"Leave the girl alone, Anna," Basil cut in, his expression slightly amused. "Jack, I've been meaning to ask you – how is work for you at the moment? I know there certainly isn't much in the way of crops during Winter. Is that a problem for you?"

"Mm, a little bit," Jack replied, not failing to notice the look of utter gratitude Mary shot her father, and the disappointment on Anna's face at the change of subject. "It's definitely not the easiest season. I mean, I have a fair bit more time to work with the animals, but at the same time... it's not like I can take them outside in this weather, and they get understandably tired of being cooped up inside. Personally... I love Winter, but it's a bit of a relief that we're almost in Spring again."

"Ah, yes... Spring is undoubtedly the greatest season for farmers," Basil nodded enthusiastically. "Crops and plants, animals, even fishing – it really is wonderful."

"Basil, you're boring our guest," Anna cut across.

"Oh no, it's fine –" Jack protested instantly, before shutting up abruptly at the expression on Anna's face.

"So," she began, before the timer on the oven went off loudly. She scowled at the appliance as if daring it to interrupt her again, before sighing and reluctantly getting to her feet. "That's the apple pie... I'll just be a minute. Mary, would you hurry and eat something? You've been sitting there pushing your dinner around this whole time. Are you sick?"

"Not in the literal sense," she replied dryly.

"Now, there's no need for that attitude," Mary's mother said airily, wincing as she lost concentration and the pie burned her hand. "Look what you've done, distracting me." The room lapsed into a quiet moment again as Anna ran a knife around the rim of the baking tin and lifted the pie onto a cooling rack. Mary had her eyes fixed on the apple pie proceedings as if it was the most fascinating series of events she'd ever witnessed, obviously still painfully embarrassed by her mother's earlier prying and completely unable to meet Jack's eye. He gently reached across and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze beneath the table – she still didn't look across, but her face lit up into a soft smile.

"Look, Jack," Anna said plainly, taking her seat once more, "I'm a reasonable woman. I want you to know that there's absolutely no reason for you to hide anything from me."

"Of course."

She smiled brightly. "I'm glad we agree. In that case, tell me, do you have feelings for my daughter?"

"Mom, in the name of the Goddess!" Mary exploded, looking as if she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

Jack, on the other hand, looked totally unaffected. "Yes ma'am."

Anna positively beamed at him before turning to her daughter. "Mary, do you have feelings for Jack?"

"Mom, I –" she began, looking to her father for support. When it became apparent that he was staying out of it completely, she groaned and brought one hand up to her head. "You know I do," she murmured.

"Then, I have to ask, _why _aren't the two of you dating?"

"Mom!" Mary gasped, her expression completely mortified. Oh Goddess, if there was anything that could make Jack – or any guy, for that matter – completely bail in the other direction...

"Actually... I was kind of holding out for your blessing on that," Jack said with a genuine smile. "I was hoping you'd give me permission to ask her tonight."

Another silence followed, and Jack was certain that he wasn't the only one afraid Anna was about to have a heart attack. She was staring at him, spluttering random noises every so often before abruptly getting to her feet. "Of course, Jack. Of course, of course. Basil, can I see you upstairs please?" She gestured for her husband then swept up the stairs, none-too-subtly giving Jack and Mary a moment of privacy.

"I'm so sorry." She couldn't get the words out quickly enough. "I don't know what she's doing – I can't believe some of the things she's saying."

"I think she left us alone for a reason, Mares," he said with a half-smile.

The librarian froze, trying to keep away the smile that was threatening to creep onto her face. "You don't have to – please just, don't feel pressured. I can wait."

"I'm sure you can wait," Jack said seriously, before allowing himself another smirk. "I'm just pretty sure _I_ can't. So, uh..." he reached out to rest his hand on hers. "How would you feel about... being my girlfriend?"

"... Do I really need to answer that?" Mary said softly, smiling helplessly as she stared at the ground.

"Eh... kisses would probably do the job."

"Jack," she scolded, sounding rather amused but leaning over and kissing him lightly just the same. "Of course. But seriously, if you're just asking me because of my mother –"

"Mary," he growled, cutting her off. "You _know _I'm crazy about you. Your parents are the only reason I waited this long to ask you in the first place. So if you're worrying about your Mom rushing me along... well, don't."

She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something – but was interrupted by her mother and father coming back downstairs, the former absolutely glowing with excitement.

Once Anna had achieved exactly what she'd wanted, the night seemed to run much more smoothly. When dinner and dessert were finished, Basil insisted on lending Jack some of his prized crop and plant books – perhaps his own personal stamp of approval to the relationship between Jack and Mary – and it was past eleven o'clock by the time anybody realized just how late it was.

"I'm sorry to go," Jack said with a smile, "But I have to be up at six tomorrow, and if I don't get home soon... I don't know if I'll physically be _able_ to wake up in the morning, to tell you the truth."

"It was just lovely having you over," Anna said warmly. "And now that this –" she gestured between Jack and her daughter, "Has happened... _finally_... I hope I can expect to see a whole lot more of you."

"You can count on it. I'll probably be around so much that you'll get sick of me." He mirrored his actions at the beginning of the night, kissing Anna on the cheek lightly and shaking Basil's hand before hesitating at Mary, not feeling that a kiss on the cheek would suffice – and at the same time, not sure how she'd respond to a kiss on the lips in front of her parents. Luckily, it was Basil who made that choice for them.

"You'll see Jack off outside, Mary? Come on," he tapped his wife on the shoulder lightly, turning towards the kitchen. "I'll help you clean up."

Calling out a final goodbye, Jack followed Mary outside and frowned at the temperature and the light snow falling from the sky. "I won't keep you out here; it's freezing. Night bub." He stepped in closer, leaning down to kiss her softly and grinning at the mild noise of protest she made as he pulled away. "I have to get home some time. One more." He kissed her again, lingering slightly longer this time – and he could have sworn he saw the house curtain swing closed as the couple separated. "See you, girlfriend," he called, backing away down the street.

The librarian blushed instantly. "Bye, Jack... happy Starry Night." With her arms crossed against the cold, she watched her... boyfriend... retreat into the darkness for a few moments, before turning and walking into her house with a helpless smile that no power on earth could have wiped away. She stopped in front of her parents, shrugging slightly, implying that there was nothing to be said.

Anna had a grin almost rivaling her daughter's. She gestured towards the staircase, watching in amusement as Mary ducked past, not quite able to meet her eye. "It's okay. You can thank me later."

**xxx**

It couldn't be what it looked like. It had to be – there had to be some completely logical explanation for it, but not...

"W-what are you doing?"

Tom glanced up quickly, catching his wife's confused stare as she stood, trembling slightly, in the doorway to their room. They kept eye-contact for about three seconds before he tore his gaze away, shoving more clothes in his open suitcase. "Exactly what it looks like."

"We're leaving?"

"No," he said plainly, walking over to the closet and starting to pull various jackets out of it, folding them as if he had all the time in the world. "I am. You're completely welcome to stay in this hick town for as long as you want."

"I don't love it here either, Tom," she laughed nervously, walking over to her bed and pulling her empty suitcase out from underneath it. "So let's go. It's not like there's anything here we need to stick around for, or –"

"You're not understanding me, babe," he said with a wry smile. "I'm leaving. Not just this town. I'm leaving you."

"Don't be stupid," she blurted instantly. "That's ridiculous, Tom. Put your suitcase away." Wringing her hands frantically, she watched as he simply folded another jacket to place in the bag. "I said put it away!"

"Are you gonna make me?" he asked suddenly, his tone vicious, implying just what might happen if she _did _try to make him stay. "What's the problem, baby? You didn't see this coming? You didn't think, when you were screwing around with your sister's head _and _her worthless boyfriend, maybe that could affect other aspects of your life? The company, perhaps?"

"Oh God," she choked in disbelief. "You're not serious."

"What gives you the impression that I'm not serious?" he snapped.

"You're... saying that you're leaving me over the company? We don't _need _it,Tom! God, it's not like we're going to fall into poverty without it. We still have plenty of the money Dad left us; we don't have to pay rent or a mortgage – I can get a job – we'll be fine. There's no need for you to go making rash decisions. We're young, we're attractive, we're intelligent and we're in love. Please..." her voice broke as she paused to wipe her eyes.

"Rash decisions?" Tom scoffed. "Damn it woman, I've had this on my mind for months. I'm sick of this, I'm sick of you, and I'm done. Yeah, turn on the waterworks – I don't care. You brought this on yourself and you know it."

"I'm sorry baby," she choked desperately, brushing away the tears falling down her face "I'm sorry. I'll make it better – we can fix this."

"Mm... can we?" Tom asked sarcastically, pretending to think about it carefully. "Well, maybe if... no."

"I'll change, I swear. It can't be just the company. Tell me what's wrong and I'll... I'll change," she begged frantically, making no effect on Tom's impassive, almost amused expression.

"You want to know what's wrong?" he asked slowly, taking a few steps towards his sobbing wife. She nodded instantly and he reached out to take one of her hands in his, a gentle, mocking expression on his face. "What's wrong is that you're a stubborn, conceited, selfish excuse for a woman. What's wrong is that when I married you, you were wealthy and damn attractive – now with the company and the baby, you're pretty much neither. What's wrong – for you – is that I've got another girl waiting for me. She's a model, she's eighteen, and she's going to be big news in a couple of years. You reckon you can compete with that?"

The expression on Veronica's face was beyond anything words could convey. Stunned, devastated, completely tortured – but as Tom watched his words start to really sink in, the smirk on his face grew. "You okay, baby? You don't look too good."

"You're kidding," she said in a monotone, her facial expression suddenly becoming blank, though her fists stayed tightly clenched. "It's not funny. Stop it."

"It is _kind of _funny, you have to admit. But I assure you, it's no joke." He watched her for a few moments before exhaling, shaking his head and bringing one hand up to cup her cheek patronizingly. "Haven't you noticed anything strange lately, love? You haven't wondered why I've been making so many phone calls, or spending so much time at the beach in the middle of Winter, trying to see when the soonest ferry out of this fricking place was? I know you're not _that _unobservant. Or maybe you were just too preoccupied playing your little games with Jill."

"Tom," she whispered, clasping his hand with both of her own. "Stop it. It's not funny. I get your point, okay?"

"Now you're just getting repetitive and annoying," he said, rolling his eyes and pulling his hand out of her grasp. "If you'll excuse me... I've got a ferry to catch tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?"

"I didn't marry a parrot," he snapped. "I say tomorrow, I mean tomorrow, I don't need it repeated. Okay? Good. Oh, and by the way –" he breezed, glancing around the room, "You don't know where my blue and white shirt is, do you?"

She sat down quickly, her head spinning as the silent tears started up again. Tom continued grabbing various items from around the room, humming and whisting jovially to himself.

"I love you," Veronica wavered after ten or so minutes.

"Hmm?" Tom said, turning around as if he'd forgotten she was there. "What was that?"

"I love you."

"Ah," he said, wincing. "Yeah... I know. Seriously, I don't know where that shirt's gone. I remember wearing it about a week ago –"

"D-don't you love me?"

His gaze met hers and he had to smile. "Sweetie. If I loved you, I wouldn't be leaving. Would I?"

"You're lying," she murmured quietly, shaking her head. "I know you're lying. You do love me, and you love Kayla, and you won't do this to us."

There was a long silence as Tom stared at his wife, sighing before folding both arms over his chest. "You _are_ goddamn stubborn. How do I put this in a way you'll understand?" He walked over and pulled Veronica to her feet, gripping both her forearms tightly. "I don't give a damn about you. I don't give a damn about the kid. Honestly, I don't care what happens to either of you. You want money, fine, but I'm telling you right now that I want nothing to do with that kid's life or upbringing. I don't love you, I don't love her, and I _will _do this to both of you. Now if you honestly need more proof that I'm serious about this..." he pushed her back down into her seat roughly, ignoring her small cry of pain. "I'm still sleeping in here tonight, by the way. If you plan on sleeping here as well, it doesn't bother me, but I'm just letting you know in case you want to make other arrangements."

There was another painful silence as Tom finally zipped up his suitcase and hoisted it over near the door. It took Veronica a few minutes, but she eventually got to her feet, grabbing a few overnight essentials and stumbling out the door. "Veronica?" Tom called out just as she left, making her turn around with something resembling hope in her teary eyes.

"Yes?"

"In case you didn't get the general idea," he said slowly, a smirk creeping across his face, "I'm going to be wanting a divorce."

**xxx**

"How was it?" Jill asked quietly, half-smiling at the expression on her brother's face as he walked through the front door. He looked five years old again, grinning helplessly, his eyes sparkling in delight.

"She's my girlfriend," he blurted out instantly as if he couldn't go any longer without telling _someone_. "Her parents are completely fine with us – Anna's maybe more than just fine with it; she was dropping hints and seemed pretty delighted after it actually happened."

"Oh," the blonde said, arranging her features into another smile. She was still sitting on the couch with her doona, but she'd tuned out from whatever was on television a long time before and had been literally sitting there in silence for hours. "That's fantastic."

"You're telling me," he murmured, wringing his hands together, the grin still firmly on his face. "I mean, I'm still a little bit nervous... she's kind of the only girl I've ever asked out with the intention of making it last, you know? I'm bound to stuff it up somehow. But right now... I don't know. It just feels ridiculous to be worrying about things like that."

"Mhm," Jill nodded gently, pulling her blanket a little tighter around herself. She could remember all too clearly what the beginning of a relationship felt like – with the light hearted, light headed belief that nothing in the world could possibly bring you down. It was a truly incredible feeling – but she never, never wanted to see her big brother deal with the opposite side of that. She'd seen him furiously angry several times, and it was hard to watch him after their father had died – but Jack had never been hurt in _that _way, and she could only pray that he never would.

"Well... I should get to bed – as should you, missy."

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled in a mock-annoyed voice, slowly shuffling to her feet. "Pyjamas and sleep it is. Happy Starry Night, Jack."

"You too. Night, kid."

She made her way into her room, shivering as she loosened the blanket from around her shoulders and threw it onto her bed. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, not exactly the most intelligent apparel when it was snowing outside – but she had a strange issue with having her arms restricted by long sleeves in general, and especially while sleeping. She didn't have an issue with long pants covering her legs, though – so she would typically sleep in trackpants and a tank top, pulling her blankets tight around herself to avoid freezing to death. That was exactly what she did now, throwing on her gray trackpants with a faded green tank and climbing into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and preparing for yet another sleepless night.

And then there was a knock at the door.

She couldn't stop her heart from speeding up – after all, it was Starry Night for about ten minutes longer.

It was just... if Gray _had_ shown up in her doorway sometime during the festival, she wouldn't have spoken to him – she probably would have slammed the door in his face, to be truthful – but... there was some inexplicable expectation that maybe he'd come by to attempt talking to her. Even worse, there was a part of her that wanted that to happen so badly, it physically hurt.

Jack was closer to the front door, and reluctantly got out of his comfortable bed to answer it, not knowing quite what to expect. The thought that it might be Gray ran through his head briefly as well, and he wasn't entirely sure how he would react if that was the case. Jill had never told Jack why the two of them had broken up – worse, he had a feeling Mary knew as well and was keeping it from him. Regardless – if it _was_ Gray, he could only hope the blacksmith didn't force his way in to speak to Jill. Jack was far from weak, if he did say so himself, but... yeah, no desire whatsoever to attempt a fight with an annoyed Gray.

It was basically pitch black outside apart from the reflection of the moon onto the snow, but it was instantly apparent that Jack probably wasn't going to be losing any fights as the light from inside the house flooded over Veronica's pale, withdrawn face.

"Tom left me," she said bluntly, her voice cracking and sounding far too high-pitched as her shoulders slumped and she brought her hands up to cover her face, dropping various items into the snow at her feet. Jack just stood there for a few moments, not entirely sure what he'd just heard, before his expression changed completely.

"He did _what_?" he snarled, looking just about ready to race off to the inn that second. "The worthless bastard did _what_?"

His little sister could only shake her head, making an agonized, strangled noise as she seemed to collapse forward in a moment of total weakness. Jack quickly caught her and carried her inside, setting her down onto the couch and running to grab a blanket to wrap around her tiny, shivering form before sitting beside her, brushing her hair back from her face. "Calm down, Von. Tell me what happened. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"He pushed me," she whispered, burying her face in her hands. "B-but not... he didn't hit me. But some of the things he said – oh God." She swore loudly, pulling her hands away for a second, allowing Jack to see her face covered with damp tears. "He said he didn't _love _me, and he didn't love Kayla, and he didn't give a damn what happened to us."

"He did not," Jack growled in disbelief. "He said he doesn't _love _you? Bullshit, Veronica. You can't – you can't just stop loving somebody."

"Well apparently I'm a freaking exception," she choked. "He's got some teenage bitch waiting for him back in the city, and God knows _how _long he's been screwing around with her."

"He's been _cheating _on you? That –" a long string of expletives left Jack's mouth as he furiously shot to his feet, storming over to his closet and pulling a jacket out so violently, one of the sleeves actually ripped.

"Don't!" she protested hysterically, grabbing his hand and clinging to him as he moved towards the front door. "Don't touch him, Jack... don't... please don't leave me." Her begging seemed to stop him; he glanced at the floor for a few moments before moving back to the couch and gently trying to wipe away her endless stream of tears. "I can't stand this, Jack," she whispered, her voice trembling. "It's like... I can't even breathe. How am I meant to go on with my life now? How can I look after Kayla? I – God, I can't be a single parent, I can't take care of her on my own, I –"

"Don't even worry about that," Jack said instantly, shaking his head. "Mom will do anything she can to help, and if you want to, you can bring Kayla back here. We'll help you, sis – you'll be fine."

Rather than calming her down, his words only seemed to upset her more. "I – I have to tell Mom... I have to tell my friends, and – and they're all going to judge me and talk about me, and –"

"You _can't _think like that. How could anybody blame you?" the red-head started to protest, but he quickly pressed one finger to her mouth, instructing her to stop talking. "I... can't imagine how you must feel right now, Veronica – but I know enough to tell you that being over-tired will not help you at _all. _You need to sleep. I'll take the couch; you take my bed –"

"I'd rather the couch," she said in a dull voice. Jack stared at her for a couple of seconds, giving her a sad, sympathetic smile.

"Okay. Well... I'll go get the things you dropped outside and then we'll get you set up for the night." He gave her a brief kiss on the forehead, brushing her hair back from her face again before slipping on a pair of shoes and quickly walking outside. Stifling another sob, Veronica glanced up and around the house, halting instantly as she realized Jack wasn't the only person who had heard.

Jill was standing in her bedroom doorway, a cold expression frozen on her face – giving away no hints as to how long she had been there. There was eye-contact between the sisters for a moment, and Veronica opened her mouth to speak – but before she could get a sound out, the blonde had turned back into her room, slamming the door behind her as loudly as she could.

"Don't worry about her right now," Jack said softly, having re-entered the house and standing some distance behind his youngest sister. "Here's your stuff... brush your teeth, and I'll lend you some of Ji –" he cut himself off, throwing a resigned look at Jill's closed door. "Some of my old clothes to sleep in."

"She hates me," Veronica whimpered. "She has every right in the world to hate me. She –" the girl stopped speaking abruptly, lowering her gaze again. "Yeah, um... I'll go brush my teeth. Thanks." She got to her feet and slowly walked over to the bathroom while Jack pulled out some spare blankets, alongside trackpants and a long-sleeved cotton shirt that would be three times too big for her, laying them all on the couch. Veronica came back to retrieve them, returned into the bathroom to change, then silently returned and settled herself on the couch, lying down and staring blankly ahead.

"You okay?" Jack asked, unable to completely stifle a tired yawn. The red-haired girl nodded silently and he examined her face sceptically. "You sure?"

"Certain. Goodnight Jack."

"Night," he sighed, turning off the light and sliding back into bed. It took all of five minutes for him to fall fast asleep, the sound of his steady breathing almost soothing. Almost.

In the other room, Jill turned in her bed restlessly and closed her eyes tightly, trying to force herself asleep – or to stop thinking, at the very least. What she'd just heard was... damn it, completely overwhelming. It wasn't... it didn't fit. People didn't _leave _Veronica. People didn't _hurt _Veronica.

But Tom... had just left her. What did that mean? What would that change? Would –

Oh, no. No no no.

Would Veronica try to get together with Gray... officially, now?

The idea almost made her literally sick. Seeing them together would be... indescribable. But she was getting ahead of herself.

... Was she? If Veronica didn't have the common decency – if she would have an affair with him while he was with Jill, what on earth would stop her from having a proper attempt without a husband standing in her way? Nothing.

Somehow, hours passed Jill by as she lay there, trying to block the thoughts and images. There was a muffled, unrecognizable sound from outside as she stared at the ceiling, any notion of sleep completely gone from her mind. She hated that she was in the same house as Veronica right now, and there was a big temptation to storm out of her bedroom right now, wake her up, and... hit her, or something. Veronica was just... she was...

She was... sobbing?

The harder Jill listened, the clearer the mysterious noise became. Veronica was crying to herself in the other room, trying as hard as she could to be quiet and not wake up the rest of the house. And it... broke Jill's heart.

All of her anger seemed to vanish upon hearing her heartless, beautiful sister trying to keep her tears quiet. She was used to Veronica's crocodile tears, and she'd long ago lost all sympathy for them – the girl had the talent of turning them on and off like a tap. But the fact that she was trying so hard to stay silent, at – what was it, three in the morning? It showed that she was actually, heaven forbid, genuinely grieving. She... actually loved Tom.

The most affecting thing? That was her baby sister, crying all alone out there... and it reminded Jill so much of _herself_ after her breakups with Tom and Gray. But having Mary beside her that second time, helping her... someone who really understood...

Jill wasn't entirely sure what she was doing as she abruptly sat up, swinging both legs over the side of her bed and getting to her feet. All she knew was that her sisterly instincts were choosing now to kick in big time, and she had a little sister out there who needed her badly. She pushed open her door, obviously startling Veronica dramatically.

"I'm sorry," the younger girl said quickly, wiping her face with her sleeve. "Did I wake you?"

"No," Jill said quietly, leaning on her door-frame. There was silence for a few moments before the blonde inclined her head towards her room. "Come on. You'll wake Jack up."

A look of utter bemusement crossed the red-head's face, but she didn't comment, simply stumbling to her feet and shuffling past Jill into her room, still wiping fresh tears from her own face as she did. She knelt down onto the bed as Jill did, and the two stared at each other for a moment – before Jill bit her bottom lip, trying to fight back tears of her own as she held her arms out – and that was all it took for Veronica to break down again, clinging to her sister in a tight hug as the two of them sobbed their hearts out. Eventually they calmed down and got cold enough to actually get under a blanket, Jill behind Veronica, holding her.

"D-did really I make you feel like this?" Veronica whispered after awhile, squeezing Jill's hand in hers. "This bad?"

The blonde grimaced. "Yeah."

"I'm... sorry," she murmured in a barely audible voice. "I just hope you know... I never really understood. I could never have done _this _to you... if I'd had any idea what it was like. I do love you. And this... God, Jill, I've never felt anything like it. I didn't know I could feel this much. But I... don't understand, how one day he could say he loved me... and the next, he can – can tell me all the things he hates about me, and say he doesn't care."

There was a brief pause as Jill sighed. "Von... there's something I want to say, but – how honest can I be with you?"

"Of course you can be honest –"

"What I mean is," she rephrased, "How much can you take right now? I'm worried I'll say something that will hurt that little bit too much. I... I want to tell you a couple of things that I think will help you in the long run."

There was another pause, and when Veronica said her next words, she sounded more than a little scared. "Tell me anything, Jill. I really... really don't think it can feel much worse than this. And if you think it will help... I trust you."

"Okay," Jill said, taking a slow breath before beginning. "Tom's... never been in love, Veronica. He wasn't in love with you, and he wasn't in love with me. Loving somebody means wanting nothing but the best for _them_, and you can't love somebody else when you're so single mindedly wanting only the best for yourself. And you know that; I can tell. But the thing is, it doesn't matter. It still hurts and aches and cuts you up inside, and it will for a long time."

"How long? I – don't answer that. I deserve this, Jill."

"No, you don't." Veronica made a scoffing sound, and Jill quickly pulled her around so they were facing each other. "Hey, listen to me. No matter what I, or anybody else tells you to try and help you, it's going to hurt like this tonight, and tomorrow... and for weeks and then months and then maybe years. And you're going to go through it all in your head, over and over again, and you want to know what you did wrong or how you _could_ have kept him interested. You'll wonder what this other girl has that you don't and you'll hate her with a passion even if you've never met her. You'll travel back to single moments that meant nothing at the time, and you'll analyze them from a thousand different perspectives. You'll hate yourself some days, wondering why he ever bothered with you, and love yourself other days, wondering what the hell he could have been thinking to leave you. One day you'll be furiously cutting up pictures of him and the next, you'll be clinging to a sweater or pillow of his, sobbing hysterically and sincerely believing that you will _never _love anybody as much as you loved him."

"You're really not being gentle with this," the younger girl said shakily.

"I'm not trying to be gentle... I'm trying to be honest," Jill said plainly. "And because I've told you all this, I hope you believe what I'm going to tell you next." She allowed Veronica to turn away from her again – it wasn't exactly easy, looking her in the face as she said these things. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Keep talking."

Jill closed her eyes for a moment, taking a moment to plan out her words. "It takes... a hell of a long time, and that time will be broken up with patches where you truly believe you're over him. You can tell when those times are, because although you think about him and believe that you're over him... you're still thinking about him constantly... albeit in a negative light, and it takes next to nothing to fall for him all over again. You're not over him until the day you wake up and he doesn't cross your mind – and I can see that you don't believe me right now, but that day will come. I promise – one day you're going to wake up and go the entire day without thinking of him. And then you'll make the next day, and the next day – and maybe another man will come along. Don't look at me like that. I know you don't want anybody else – I know the feeling; that the only time you'd want another guy around is to make Tom jealous. But don't. It's not worth it – Tom won't get as jealous as you'd hope, which will make you feel completely worthless – and you'll end up hurting the other guy, too." She trailed off quietly, absent-mindedly playing with her sister's hair. Minutes passed; ten, maybe twenty – and just when Jill thought the other girl had fallen asleep, she started to speak.

"I'm sorry you know all of this," Veronica whispered. "I'm sorry you know how it feels to be completely... broken. It's my fault that you do. It's my fault you've been through it... twice." She faltered on the last word, but it seemed to go unnoticed.

"I blamed you completely," Jill said, lowering her eyes. "Both times. That was unfair of me... it was equally Tom's fault and Gray's fault, if not more. I really thought –" she choked slightly, her eyes glistening. "I _really_ thought Gray could be faithful. But when it comes to the kind of man who has it in him to cheat... if it wasn't with you, it would have been with some other girl."

"But... you're over him, right?" Veronica said uncomfortably. "Like you said... do you still think about him?"

Jill was quiet for a long time, and when she began to speak, her eyes were closed. "I haven't gone ten minutes without thinking about him since I started dating him. He was... everything. Hell, he still is. And I'm not naïve enough to think I'm even beginning to get over him. I really, really... don't think I ever will."

There was a moment of intense silence as Veronica's body seemed to freeze. "Jill," she began quietly, inching herself away from her sister, pushing herself up to a sitting position that Jill immediately mimicked. "I have to – I have to tell you something. I know you're going to kick me out right now, and that's okay. I won't hold it against you at all. But before I tell you; I want you to know I'm... so sorry. God, I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" the blonde said slowly, a hint of suspicion in her voice. "What have you done?"

"It's like I said, Jill, I didn't know what I felt like. There is _no _way – no way I _ever _would have –"

"Veronica, what have you_ done_?"

"Gray didn't cheat," her younger sister whimpered, bringing her hands up to her face and cowering away from her stunned sibling. A silence echoed through Jill's room, only pierced by the faint sounds of a faucet dripping every few seconds and Jack's quiet breathing as he slept in another part of the house.

"Yes he did," Jill wavered. "You told me... you told me you were having an affair with him. That means cheating."

"I don't know why I said it," Veronica said in a muffled voice, openly sobbing now. "I don't know what was going through my head, or why I would _do _that to you. He doesn't know, Jill. He's been going crazy this entire time because he doesn't have a clue why you're so mad at him. I lied to you and – and I can't begin to understand why I did."

"But he – no," Jill choked. "He _admitted _to it, I swear. Remember, he said... he said..."

"He couldn't have admitted to something he didn't know existed. I swear to you – I know you have no reason to believe me, but I swear I'm finally telling the truth. Think about it, Jill."

She could hardly move. Her mouth was dry, and she wanted so badly to believe what the red-head was saying. It was just... "Did you sleep with him?"

The expression on Veronica's face was one of complete shock. "Of course I didn't!"

The feeling of helpless relief that shot through her was something Jill had never quite experienced before. "Did you kiss him?"

There was a few seconds of silence. "I... yes. _I _kissed _him_... but this was after you two had broken up. He pushed me away instantly – totally rejected me. He said... he said that nothing would ever happen between him and I, because it would hurt you too much. He said... he couldn't live with himself, if he hurt you like that. And I tried... I was awful to him, Jill. I asked him if he was going to be pathetic and lonely and just wait forever."

"And?" the blonde prompted, completely frozen to the spot.

"He said he's always going to be there for you... whether you want him or not. I've never seen love like that, not ever, and I was enough of a _bitch_ to try and ruin that."

"Don't talk about yourself that way," Jill murmured, staring off into the darkness blankly.

"Jill, you should hate me."

"You're my little sister," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I love you."

"I did it on purpose, Jillian! Did you hear any of what I just told you? It wasn't an accident, it was all me, just being selfish and I put you through all this for _nothing_ –"

"I know."

"So hit me!" she pleaded. "Yell at me Jill, slap me or punch me or something. D-don't just sit there understanding me, because there's nothing to understand. I'm a selfish cow living in her high-school glory days. Can you see what I've done? Everything that's screwed up now, that's me. So kick me out of the house! Hit me, _hurt_ me; I swear I won't fight back. I swear."

"I love you," she repeated, climbing over Veronica to get out of the bed. "I want you to stay here, and I want you to go to sleep. Tom never deserved either of us, and this way... he's out of our lives for good. That's nothing to cry over."

"Where are you going?"

Jill smiled in an attempt at 'calm', but as she leaned down to kiss her sister on the forehead, Veronica noticed that she was shaking violently. "Guess."

**xxx**

She hadn't even bothered to put shoes on, but Jill barely noticed the stinging of her bare feet as they made contact with the freezing snow. She wasn't wearing anything over her tank top either, and her skin was covered with goosebumps, so cold it was almost burning – honestly, she'd never cared about anything less in her life. She didn't stop running, didn't stop for breath all the way up to the inn – and when she got there she didn't hesitate for a second, banging on the door and very probably waking up every single resident. It took a few minutes for the sound of a young woman saying some decidedly unladylike words to reach Jill's ears, and she stood back as Ann unlocked the door and wrenched it open – her furious expression faltering as she recognized Jill.

"Uh..."

"I need to see Gray," the blonde said instantly, letting herself inside as Ann seemed too overly surprised to think of inviting her in.

"Tell me you didn't run from the farm wearing _that_," Ann said, wincing at the idea – rugged up in several warm layers, herself.

"Yeah. Look, I can't... sorry about this, but... can I – ?"

Ann folded her arms across her chest, working her tongue around the inside of her mouth. She glared at Jill for a moment, seeming to recall that she was mad at her – but her expression quickly faltered to a quick smile, and she pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Go on. Good luck."

She made a movement as if she were about to run straight past, but did a double-take at the last minute and ran back to kiss Ann on the cheek. "Thank you," she murmured quietly, before hitting the stairs two at a time, her heart racing in time with her quick footsteps.

Gray was alone in his room, unable to sleep – not exactly surprising – and he wasn't entirely sure what to expect when he heard that knock on his door. What he definitely wasn't prepared for was opening it to see a small blonde woman shivering violently in his doorway, staring at him with eyes that seemed just about ready to overflow.

"I'm sorry." That seemed to be all she could manage, ducking her head as the tears started up properly. "I'm so sorry, Gray."

"Goddess, Jill," he murmured, instantly moving forward to envelope her in a protective embrace. Asking questions was the furthest thing from his mind, even though there was so damn many of them. "You're freezing."

"I'm an idiot," she choked. "I'm such an idiot, and I – I can't begin to make excuses for what I've done, and what I've put us both through. I love you. I love you."

"I love you," he said immediately, fighting back tears of his own as she reached up to kiss him. They stayed there for a long time – neither of them really had any idea _how _long, and it didn't seem to matter. When their lips finally broke apart, they just stood there, foreheads touching gently as they gazed at each other. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you," Gray said gently.

"Don't take me back," she said, her voice shaking. "I don't deserve another chance... not after this. I've never deserved you, and I know that, but I just keep stuffing everything up and jumping to conclusions and _hurting_ you when I know that you would never hurt me. There's nothing I can say to make this any better – and I feel so much like I've learned my lesson, but I've felt that way before, and I'll probably just end up doing something like this all over again, and that's something you shouldn't have to deal with."

"Jill –"

"Don't," she protested, cutting him off. "I know you're about to say something nice, something that I don't deserve. So just... can't you yell at me or something?"

"It's a little hard to believe you want me to yell at you when you're clinging to me like this," he said with an amused tone in his voice. "Now don't interrupt me... because there's something I want to say to you."

"I don't –" He quickly covered her hand with his mouth, making her murmur something in muffled annoyance.

"Jill. Like you said, you are... a complete idiot." That obviously wasn't what she'd expected. "You tend to speak and act a _long_ time before you think, and you cause ten times more trouble than anybody I've ever met. It's not that you can't _be_ logical, it's more that you don't bother. Now... I haven't got the slightest damn idea what happened between us, or what you _thought _happened between us. And I've been going literally insane these past few weeks, trying to give you your space when all I wanted to do was shake you and ask you what the hell you were so mad at me for."

The blonde was staring at the ground by now; he pushed her chin up with one hand, forcing her to make eye-contact with him. "But I... am completely in love with you. That hasn't wavered for one damn second, no matter what you've done wrong, or what you've put me through. And I'm not stupid enough to think that everything's fixed now, and we'll be one of those happily ever after couples – because we'll fight again, and we'll screw everything up again, and we'll probably scream and rage and hate each other. But we're _never_ going to stop loving each other. And that means... we'll always be okay." He gave her the tiniest hint of a smirk. "No matter how hard you try to make me feel otherwise."

"B-but I don't deserve you. It's not fair that I keep having all these chances," Jill argued weakly.

"I'm not in a position to be a judge of whether or not you _deserve _me," Gray said plainly. "But you have me." He seemed to hesitate for a moment as he stared at her. "You love me?"

"I love you," she frowned. "Of course I love you. More than anything."

"Okay," he sighed, taking a step back from her. "Now, I can't... I can't do this properly. I wasn't exactly prepared."

"What are you –" Jill began, before clapping both hands over her mouth as he sank down onto one knee. "Oh my Goddess."

"I want to you marry me, Jill," he said in a steady voice. "I feel like I should have asked a long time ago. I love you... and I want you to be my wife. It's as simple as that."

"Are you sure?" she asked frantically, completely overwhelmed. "I don't want you to feel like you _have _to do this –"

"And I don't want you feeling like _you_ have to," he told her seriously. "All this is... is letting you know that I'm ready. We don't have to get married next week, or even next year – we don't have to rush anything until we're both exactly where we want to be in our relationship. But this is... a promise of 'someday'."

All Jill could do was nod tearfully. "Yes. Of course, yes."

He was on his feet in the next instant, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him, frowning some as he realized how icy her skin was. "Jill..."

"I know," she said quickly, "But I don't care... it doesn't matter. I had to see you tonight."

"And I'm... thankful that you did," he murmured. "But you're freezing, and you look exhausted."

"I haven't been sleeping," she confessed.

The blacksmith gave her a wry smile. "Me neither."

Five minutes later, however, both were sleeping more peacefully than they had in weeks – Jill curled up in Gray's arms, sharing his single bed, their hands firmly intertwined.

**xxx**

**Drama, drama, drama... I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know :)**


	53. Chapter 53

**Yeah, I'm the worst author in the whole world. It's been over three freaking months, and I'm actually so mad at myself for it! It will NEVER happen again, I promise. And being completely serious, if I don't update within a month, I want you all to promise me that you won't review the next chapter as punishment. All of you, take an oath:**

"**I solemnly swear that as a reader of HmGirly's Harvest Moon fanfiction Starting Over, that if the next update takes longer than a month I will not review chapter 54. This works twofold; as an inspiration for her to keep her word, and a punishment if she breaks her word."**

**Repeat that oath three times, then you're free to read. Enjoy!**

**xxx**

It felt strange, somehow. All the crying and cursing and breakdowns, all the pure anguish... all those nights she couldn't sleep and all the mornings she didn't want to wake up... and Goddess, that sickening, awful feeling that things were as bad as they could ever get and they weren't going to get any better... it was all gone. The horrible pain that she'd been in as recently as the night before was a distant memory to Jill. She just felt... better. Like she'd suddenly had a full recovery from a serious illness.

It was quite obvious, then, that Gray was her cure.

He was still sleeping behind her, his arms curled firmly around her waist, holding her against himself the same way he had been for the duration of the entire night. Judging by the way no light was shining through the gap in the curtains, it couldn't have been much later than seven in the morning.

She felt... almost guilty. Like she should be especially giddy with happiness that Gray had forgiven her; that she was in his arms again... but she felt _normal. _Being this happy... seemed like the normal state of things. Being with Gray... it felt right, it felt safe... it felt like this was how things were always meant to be. Like now, everything that had been so mixed up and horrible was balanced again.

The previous night... well, parts of it were fuzzy, like she'd been running on auto-pilot. She remembered Veronica... crying and crying. Tom hadn't changed at all. He really never did see Veronica as that much better than Jill, did he? In perspective, Jill had lasted eleven years longer.

But... Veronica and Tom had a daughter. And that just made this... doing this to Veronica... so much lower than anything Tom had done before.

She couldn't feel any resentment towards her sister now. Having been in her position, having known that pain... there was nothing in the world that could stop her from sympathising with Veronica completely. It was her first heartbreak... and there wasn't a lot Jill could do to help, but there was certainly a _lot _that she could do to hurt – and she refused to be responsible for heaping any more pain onto that particular situation.

She winced some as she pointed her toes under the covers and realized that her feet were horribly stiff and sore, obviously from her impromptu snow jogging the night before. And – though it was slightly worrying that thinking about literal cold feet was what triggered the memory – another memory from the previous night smacked her with such force she actually had to gasp for breath.

Gray... had asked her to marry him.

And thinking about it now, she... didn't even feel any sort of apprehension, or panic, or fear about it. With all her qualms about early marriage, for all her negative talk and opinions against it... well, frankly she was kind of worried that she wasn't even slightly worried.

"Jill?" Gray's sleepy voice murmured, his body shifting as he started to wake up. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," she replied, coughing in embarrassment at her raspy early-morning voice. "You?"

She heard him chuckle and then exhale, kissing her hair and hugging her tighter for a brief moment. "I can't believe how well I slept," he said quietly. "I feel... really healthy this morning, if that's the way to describe it."

"I know what you mean," she sighed, linking her small hands with his. "It's... I feel almost relieved. No, not almost. I feel incredibly relieved. Like if you had to carry a basket of watermelons up a mountain but then when you were at the top you got to throw them off the edge and run all the way back down with none of the weight."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Beautiful metaphor, Jill."

There were a few minutes of silence between them – peaceful silence on Gray's behalf, and apprehensive silence on Jill's as she stared ahead blankly. "Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

He was quiet for a moment. "You mentioned that last night."

"You need an explanation, though. And you're... going to be furious with me when you hear what triggered that whole thing. I mean, I trust you – of course I trust you. You've never done anything to make me question you for even a second, so I don't know what possible excuse I can give for jumping to conclusions when –"

"Rambling," he pointed out gently. Jill took a deep breath, squeezing his hand. He squeezed back reassuringly. "I won't get mad. Just... tell me."

She squinted her eyes closed, even though she was facing away from him to begin with. "Okay. Ah... it was on the night of Elli and Tim's wedding – but, uh, you already knew that. Yeah. And... um... Tom – he came to, dance with me, and then V-Veronica was dancing with you, and I – got jealous because you two looked just... perfect together." She stopped talking abruptly, leading the blacksmith to utter bemusement.

"That's... it?"

"No," Jill said instantly. "That – doesn't really warrant a break up. Then again, neither did..." she had to pause once more, biting down on her lip. "I am _so _sorry."

"_Please_ finish the story Jill," he groaned.

"Okay," she rushed, trying to get it all out at full-speed now. "So we went back to our table and you went off somewhere, and Tom went off and Jack and Mary weren't there, and it ended up being just Veronica and I at the table, a-and she just kept talking about you, and I was sending her these glares and generally trying to make her shut up, but she wouldn't. And eventually I snapped and said... said, was she having an affair with you or something? Sarcastically, obviously. But she said... that maybe she was. And I... automatically, goddamn _stupidly_ believed her."

The complete hush that took over the room – the way Gray completely froze – was physically painful for the blonde. "Gray?" she eventually pleaded.

"Mm," Gray finally managed, his jaw clenched. "You, uh... you know when I said I wouldn't get mad? Yeah, that was a lie."

"I am so, so, so, so, so, so, _so _sorry," she whimpered, sitting up in the bed at the same time he did, but unable to make herself look at his facial expression. "I can't believe I was so... unbelievably thick in the head..."

"You thought I would _touch _her?" he spat, and Jill was certain she'd never heard such unfiltered disgust and anger coming from him. "You – actually believed, _considered_, for even a second that I would do that to you? That I would cheat on you with _anyone –_ let alone your own freaking sister, for crying out loud –" he pressed a balled-up fist to his mouth, seeming to be beyond words. Jill didn't even attempt to plead her case – there was nothing worth saying. She'd screwed up, end of story. "Of all the things I'd expected, Jill," he said quietly after a long pause. "That... never crossed my mind. I never thought you would actually believe me... capable of doing that."

"I know," she choked, clamouring out of the bed and standing, still facing away from him. "I told you you'd be... furious with me. That's what I said last night... you shouldn't take me back. The way my mind works, it's... Goddess, it's not normal." She wrapped both arms around her stomach, ducking her head as if she felt sick.

"No, it's not," he growled. "When have I given you doubts, Jill? When the hell have I let you believe that I'm not completely in love with you? _When_ did I give the impression that I could ever _cheat_?"

"But that's _it_, Gray!" she pleaded, finally turning around and dropping to her knees beside his bed, letting him see the tears in her eyes. "You've never let me doubt it – I've let myself. And I know it sounds like a horrible excuse, but... I just find it so hard to believe that with all the things wrong with me... that I'm enough for you. And Veronica, she's... so beautiful, and so smart, and I know that when you're on her good side she's incredibly fun to be around. I – I assumed that because she'd said it happened, it must be true... because it's the same thing that happened with Tom."

There was another long silence as Jill stared at the ground and Gray seemed to have a change of heart. "Come here," he sighed eventually, shuffling over slightly so she could sit by him again. "That cow of a woman," he snapped eventually, shaking his head. "She knows... she knows what your weaknesses are, Jill. She knows you have... self-esteem issues, and she damn well played on them. Damn her." He closed his eyes for patience. "What I would give to see karma smack her one for all this crap..."

"Karma's more than payed her back," Jill said quietly, grabbing Gray's full attention. "She came to my house last night... and told me everything that happened with you. She told me she made it all up, and that after we'd broken up she tried to kiss you... and what you said to her..."

"So she grew the minuscule beginnings of a conscience," he scoffed. "That's not karma... that's not even the beginning of what she deserves."

"She showed up last night because Tom left her."

The expression on the blacksmith's face was truly a once in a lifetime sight. He stared Jill down as if trying to distinguish whether she was telling the truth or not, then let his gaze travel across the entire room. "You're serious?"

"He's leaving this morning," the blonde nodded. "She said he's got... another girl waiting in the city for him. He doesn't want anything to do with Veronica, or with their daughter... that's why Veronica came over. I think he... kicked her out of their hotel room." The redhead didn't say a word, just staring at Jill as if she'd come up with the most preposterous thing he'd ever heard.

"It maybe shouldn't have been such a shock to me," she confessed, her eyes downcast. "Tom... he kissed me, only a few days ago. He asked me to leave Mineral Town and... and go back to the city with him. He said, uh... he felt that 'fate' wanted him and I to end up together." She risked a glance up at Gray and immediately wished that she hadn't. His eye was twitching ever so slightly as he stood up, storming over to the closet and ripping out several items of clothing.

"When the hell does his ferry show up," he snarled, pulling his jacket on with so much force the seams nearly split.

"I – I don't know," she confessed. "All I know is it's... some time this morning."

As if to answer both of their questions, the sound of the next door over clicked shut, the barely audible noise of a wheeling suitcase being maneuvered down the stairs soon reaching their ears.

"Well... I guess I should do the polite thing and see him off at the dock," Gray said dryly. "Or... just see him _off _the dock." Jill quickly rushed forward to grab his arm.

"Gray... don't. He's not worth going to prison over. Murder will keep you in there for life."

"I won't kill him," he said simply. "Just make him wish that I had."

"Gray, you can't," she rushed in a panicked voice. "If you hurt him badly he'll have to go straight to the clinic, and then he'll be here for _longer_..." she exhaled slowly. "At least... let me come with you. I'll run home, get shoes and a jacket, then we can go... talk to him."

"It's still snowing outside," he pointed out plainly. "You'll catch your death if you go out again dressed like that."

"If I can't come, you're not going," Jill said in the most authoritative voice she'd ever used. Gray raised an eyebrow at her and attempted to stare her down, while she downright refused to budge.

**xxx**

Ten minutes later, Jill was clomping towards the beach's entrance in work-boots twice as large as her feet and a jacket that had sleeves dangling about a foot longer than her arms, while the bottom of the jacket ended at her knees. Gray couldn't seem to avoid smirking every single time he glanced at her. "It's not the best look for you, Jill."

"I like it," she insisted. "I'm already planning my wedding dress around it."

The blacksmith tried to hide his helpless smile at that – truthfully, he'd been afraid that she'd accepted his proposal the night before simply for the object of making up – and now that it was morning, she'd be trying valiantly to avoid the subject. Thank the Goddess, that didn't seem to be the case.

"There he is," Gray said suddenly, a glare of pure hatred settling on his face. Jill followed his gaze to the end of the dock, where the dark-haired man appeared to be shivering and looking downright annoyed as he sent frequent glances to his watch. "Jill, I don't like the idea of –"

"Please," she cut him off. "I just need to... work all of this out. You'll be right here."

Despite looking like he'd rather throw her over his shoulder, carry her home and lock her in while he beat Tom down to the ground, he reluctantly nodded and kept his eyes well and truly closed as Jill kissed him on the cheek and clomped across the beach to where Tom stood with his back to her.

"You're just going to leave her?" Jill asked softly, making him jump what may have been literally a foot in the air as he whipped around to face her.

"Damn it, woman... you nearly gave me a heart attack." He closed his eyes to compose himself for a moment, before his trademark smirk returned. "Come to see me off, have you?"

"I don't understand you," she said plainly.

"What do you want to understand?" he asked, looking amused as he quirked one eyebrow. "I'll try and enlighten you."

"Why are you leaving Veronica?"

He hesitated. "Look, Jill... let's put it this way. The only reason I left you for her... well, you and I had been together for so many years, I'd never really had the opportunity to... 'test run' another woman."

She couldn't stop her lips from pressing together in disgust. "So you got bored of me."

"Absolutely not," he insisted. "Never. I... maybe I worded that badly –"

"I don't think so."

"Don't be like that," he hissed. "You know how much you meant to me. Didn't I ask you to come with me, only a few days ago?"

"Before insulting me horribly because I wouldn't."

"I was hurt!" he scowled. "I'd just poured my heart out to you, and all you could do was dwell on the past. But, you know what? The option is still there for you. That's how much I care. I've already left Veronica, and I'll leave the girl that's waiting for me. I'll do it for you, Jill. We could be so happy." Seeing that she was about to retort with something cutting, he quickly held one hand up. "Can you just do one thing for me? If I leave now... you'll never see me again, you know."

"I know," she said quietly, a little startled by the idea. It never actually hit her that this... here... this was _it_. If Tom really didn't want anything to do with Veronica or Kayla – Jill would never see him again. And despite everything that had happened – despite what he'd done to their family – despite the fact that she _hated _him... she'd never really thought about him leaving her life for good.

"So all I want you to do is think back. I know we have a few years of bad memories between us now... but don't forget, we've got thirteen years of good ones. If I leave without you now... I don't want it to be on a bad note."

"I think it's a little late for that," she scowled, folding her arms across her chest and taking a step back as Tom took a step towards her. He sighed, shaking his head.

"I remember seventh grade, when we got coupled into dancing partners for a term in sport class. I was put with Claudia Maxfield and you were with Cameron Ryan. We both complained... we went to the sport teacher, our year seven co-ordinator and the deputy principal trying to make them put us together, but they refused and said that we needed to 'honor' the partners we'd been given. The next class, I talked Cameron into switching partners... and none of the teachers ever noticed." He smirked slightly, tilting his head. "Your turn."

"I'm not playing your stupid games, Tom," she murmured quietly. "Don't try to make me all nostalgic because it won't –"

"I'll go again," he offered. "A little bit before the end of tenth grade, you came out of your math class in tears. Your teacher had just told you that you were failing, and you needed a 'B' on your exam just to pass the subject. You were freaking out... saying you couldn't do it, you couldn't do it, and how your parents were going to be so mad at you and wouldn't let you see me. Remember what happened?"

"No," Jill lied, an audible waver in her voice. "Look, I –"

"I came over to your house that afternoon and stayed there until eleven o'clock that night, doing everything I could to help you. I did it again the next night, and the next night, and every night until the day of your exam. Do you remember what mark you ended up getting on that exam?"

"Seventy six percent," she whispered. "That was my... highest mark for maths, ever."

"I remember taking you to prom and thinking that I was there with the most beautiful girl in the room. I remember when you came away to the ocean with my family, and you and I spent every single second together and never had one argument or impatient word between us. I remember calling you every single night and talking to you for hours even when we'd spent the whole day together. I remember our relationship. I remember _us_. Do you remember, Jill?"

There were a few moments of silence between them, and when Jill glanced up, there were tears in her eyes. "Yes."

"Baby –" he said softly, reaching out with one hand to stroke her hair back from her face. She took a quick step back, her expression determined and her jaw set. In the distance the ferry was visible through the early fog, reaching the dock at a steady pace.

"I remember when I heard the first rumors that you were cheating – that people had _seen _you with other girls on more than one occasion – and I blocked it all out because I loved you. I remember crying myself to sleep at fifteen years old because _you_ had pressured me into a certain something that I wasn't anywhere near ready for. And I remember when I found out about you and Veronica, and for the first time, I knew what it felt like to actually want to _die_. So, Tom, I've got to say that I've _really _enjoyed this trip down memory road... but you've got a ferry to catch, and I've got thirteen years to let go of... for good."

His face had changed as she spoke; now he just seemed downright infuriated. "You're telling me that a few minor incidents overrule so many good things?"

"_Minor_ incidents? God, Tom, you've given me self esteem problems that I'm _still _struggling with. You know, you actually led me to believe that you were the only guy who could ever love me."

"I _am _the only guy who could ever love you," He spat viciously. "What are you going to tell me, that your precious freaking blacksmith _loves _you? If he loves you so much, why are you alone, Jill? Why did he leave you for Veronica too? Where the hell is he? Tell me that – where the _hell _is _he_ while _I'm_ right here with you?"

"Oh, he's here," a dangerous voice called out. Tom literally jumped, muffling a highly explicit curse word as Gray seemed to appear out of nowhere to put one arm around Jill. "And he's been very interested in hearing the crap you're filling his girlfriend's head with. Please, go on. What was that bit about... nobody ever loving her? That's true – it's not like she's, oh, engaged."

Tom's eyes seemed to darken as his gaze snapped up to meet Gray's, then Jill's. "You can't be serious."

"It comes down to this, Tom," Gray said coldly. "You've done more than your share of damage here, and I'm going to give you a choice. Either shut your mouth and get on that ferry with some smidge of dignity... or say one more word about this woman and get on that ferry with a few limbs missing."

"I'm terrified," he said viciously, sneering at Gray before turning his attention back to the woman between them. "Jill... I did think more of you. You and I both know you can do better. And if your boyfriend... _fiancée_... actually does give a damn about you, he'll keep his mouth shut while I ask you this one last time. It's your choice, baby. You can stay here with a blacksmith for a husband, relying on your brother and stuck in this town for the rest of your life. Or you can come back with me, right now... leave this place behind... finally, _really _get Veronica back for everything she's done to you. You can choose to be trapped, or choose to be free."

"Listen to yourself, Tom," Jill said simply. "You're asking me whether I want to be with the man I'm in love with, or take off with the guy who put me through two years of hell."

"Then I'm done with you for good," Tom snarled, looking as if there was nothing he'd like more than to backhand the blonde. "You worthless, idiotic –"

"_One_ more word," Gray warned, taking a step towards the slightly shorter man. "That's all I need."

Tom raised an eyebrow, letting his eyes meet the blacksmith's before flicking back to Jill's as an arrogant smirk stretched across his face.

"Bitch."

The sickening crunch that followed had Jill squinting both eyes closed, her hands flying up to cover her ears as droplets of salty water scattered across her skin. Her eyes would have been averted for barely two seconds before she hesitantly opened them – seeing Gray lightly, casually massaging his knuckles and Tom nowhere in sight. Barely a second later, the man in question reappeared, bobbing up above the water and clutching both hands to his face as blood trickled down, staining the water around him a deep red.

"Bastard," he spat, followed by a long string of violent swear words that had the sailors on the approaching ferry wincing. Lifting his hands away from his face for a split second, even Gray flinched at the angle of Tom's previously perfect nose. "I'll have you locked up for years –" he clamored back up onto the dock, shaking his head to clear the water before hissing as the movement sent another sharp pain through his head.

"That is _exactly_ what I needed," Gray exhaled. "And don't think for one second I won't do it again."

For a split second, Tom looked like he was going to retaliate, but as the ferry's horn sounded and the large ship came to a slow stop next to them, he settled for a hateful glare, pinching the top of his nose to slow the bleeding. "I hope the two of you are really happy together," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Try not to beat her every time you lose your temper. Or hell, do. See if I care – _damn_ it, I think you've broken it." He closed his eyes tightly, furrowing his brow at the pain before glancing up at the workers on the ship and calling out to them. "Well don't just stand there! Do I look like I'm in any condition to get my bags up there by myself?"

He waited impatiently as the ferry's ladder was set up, an awkward silence hovering between the three on the dock, Tom standing as far away from Gray as was physically possible without falling off the dock again. "You're going to hear my name in a few years, Jill," he said smoothly, trying to regain some sense of control – though, with one hand pinching his nose firmly, it didn't exactly have the effect he was aiming for. "I'll be re-married... filthy rich... and you're going to think, that could have been me with him."

"I don't doubt it," Jill said softly, glancing up to catch his eyes in a steady gaze. "And every night I'll go to bed thanking the Goddess that it's _not _me. There's no doubt in my mind that you'll be rich, Tom. But you're never going to be happy. You don't have the capacity to unselfishly love another person. So I promise you, no matter what happens – if you're the biggest name in the world while Gray and I are homeless – I will _never _envy you. And I hope you leave here knowing that despite everything you've done to hurt me and my family... I still feel sorry for you." She was shaking slightly as Gray's arms wrapped around her, the couple both waiting for a reply from the dark haired man in front of them.

They never got one. Tom offered them both a final, condescending sneer as he boarded the ferry, but not one word left his mouth, even as the ship sounded its foghorn and started to move away from the dock. When he was a good twenty metres away, he turned to face the blonde and her fiancée, both still watching after him. For a moment it did seem that he was going to say something; call out one ultimate, cutting insult and leave with no consequences for it. But whether he acknowledged the presence of his heart for a brief moment, or was simply frightened that Gray would throw something heavy at him, he shook his head and walked away to the other side of the ferry.

Jill stood there for a few minutes, completely still as she watched the ferry leave. "It's finally over," she eventually mumbled. "He's... gone." There was another brief moment of silence, before a beaming smile washed over her face and she turned on the spot, throwing her arms around Gray. "He's gone, he's gone, and I never, _never_ have to see him again."

"And you're okay with that?" the blacksmith asked, immediately wincing at the incredulous look Jill shot him. "Just checking."

"What's the time?" the blonde asked quickly, glancing up at the sky which was still extremely dark due to the weather.

"About... eight o'clock," Gray said slowly. "You should probably let your brother know you're okay. By the sounds of it, you kind of disappeared on him last night."

"Ah..." she muttered, bringing one hand up to her chin. "I'm guessing Veronica told him, but you're right. And I should probably check on her, too – don't look at me like that. You didn't see her last night."

"I can't believe you're just going to forgive her, Jill," Gray said quietly. "I mean, I'm sure she's hurt over Tom, but she put both of us through that as well – for no good reason other than wanting to play her stupid little mind games. How can you just... let it go?"

"I don't know," Jill said, reaching up and stroking the taller man's face lightly. "I don't know why I can forgive her so easily. I just know... how much she's going to hurt. And I don't want to make it any worse for her." She hesitated, before giving Gray a half-smile. "She's my little sister."

**xxx**

In every book she'd read, every movie she'd watched, every person she'd heard... they said, when it came to a broken heart, the nights were always harder than the mornings.

Sitting up in Jill's bed, clutching the blankets tightly around herself, Veronica begged to differ. Now that it was morning... it was sinking in. At twenty-one years old, she was divorced. Twenty-one years old, and she was a single mother. How many times had she sneered at those 'lower-class' people – the waitresses running between serving coffee and placating a fussy baby behind the counter, or the young women lining up in the welfare office she'd passed on her morning jogs; holding a baby on one hip and yelling at their two or three other young children to behave and stop running around. It never really struck her that it... it could happen to anyone, regardless of where they were brought up or how rich their parents were. And now it had happened to her.

Thinking about the damage to her reputation was infinitely easier than thinking about the fact that all this was happening because... Tom didn't love her anymore. He didn't want her, he didn't want Kayla. He was making the choice to do this to them. Quickly wiping her face with the sleeve of Jack's shirt, she wasn't entirely sure when she had started crying again. Or hadn't she stopped at all?

Right, her – her reputation. For the first time, on a completely non money-related issue, she was glad that her father wasn't alive. He was always kind to her, if a little too obsessed with his work – but at heart, he was completely old fashioned. He was the one who pushed Veronica and Tom into marriage the second he found out she was pregnant. He was the type who believed that men should work and make money while women should stay home, have babies, cook, clean and sew. If he was around to see his favorite daughter become a single mother barely out of her teens...

How would her mother react? She'd take it better than her father would have, no doubt... but still, it wasn't exactly the type of thing she would brag about to the ladies at her country club. The world they were a part of... it was so strange. When something bad like this happened to one of their own, they would all come together – taking that person out for brunches and baking things for them; all competing to be the kindest, the most compassionate. But somehow... when everyone had moved past the initial sympathy, the injured or disgraced person would eventually find themselves on the outside. They would stop being invited to large dinner parties or on spa trips; people would start to spread vicious rumors. It just took time.

Veronica's family was high up enough in society that she could probably avoid complete exile. But people would talk about her tragic 'fall from grace', and people would smother her with that awful fake sympathy just trying to get a little inside tidbit of gossip that they could twist and share with anyone who would listen. And honestly, the idea of being put under that pressure and trying not to crack with all the relentless attention... it sounded worse than being extradited completely.

"Jill, have you seen Veronica –" Jack's voice called, pushing open the door lightly. He froze, furrowing his brow as he noticed the redhead. "I'm sorry. Veronica, have you seen Jill? And, uh – what are you doing in her bed?" His eyes widened in slow horror as he glanced at the floor as if searching for something. "You... didn't kill her, did you?"

"She left really late last night," Veronica said, flinching at the hoarse, unpleasant sound of her own voice. Clearing her throat some, she continued quietly. "She had to talk to Gray. I... guess it worked out, if she hasn't come back."

"Yeah," Jack said as he wrinkled his nose, trying to skim as quickly as he could over that particular notion. "So... she's probably at the inn." He leaned against the wall, frowning and tilting his head at Veronica. "And you? How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she said a little too quickly. Her brother sighed, glancing at the floor.

"I'm terrible with this stuff, V. I wish I knew what to say, but I... I've never felt that kind of pain."

"I know," Veronica replied with a cautious smile. "It's okay." She glanced down at her clasped hands, unable to make eye contact with Jack.

"Get dressed and come with me," he said gently. "Are you going to stay at the inn awhile longer?"

"I – I'm leaving on the morning of New Year's Eve. So... I only really have four more days here."

"You wanna stay here until then? We can bring all your stuff down, and I'm sure Jill and I can manage to fit you in somehow. I really think you two should work things out before you go."

She was silent for a moment before slowly speaking. "I... kind of think we did, last night, before she left. She seemed... okay. Like she wasn't so mad anymore. But I'll be fine staying at the inn, really. It's only a few days, and I... I need the time alone. I'm just not sure if... _he's _gone yet."

"Well, come with me now. If he's not gone yet, I won't let him say a word to you. If he is, I'll just make sure you're okay and settled, then find out what Jill's situation is." He offered her another gentle smile. "So get dressed. I'm going to go and find out if Mary wants to come to the inn for breakfast, too."

"Okay," she whispered as Jack stepped back into the main area of the house, closing the bedroom door behind him. Slowly swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stayed there for a few moments, afraid that actually getting to her feet and staying upright would take more energy than she had right now.

**xxx**

"So he just left her?" Mary whispered, glancing back over her shoulder to where Veronica was sitting; her head ducked and both elbows resting on the inn's table. "And you're sure he's gone?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I didn't even get the chance to throttle him," Jack murmured back, smiling at Ann who was standing behind the counter looking exhausted. "Uh... orange juice and toast for starters. Both of us." Turning back to Mary, he continued. "I knocked on Gray's door upstairs and he wasn't in. Maybe they've gone for a walk or something. I don't know what possessed her to come here last night, or even what time she left at –"

"Three fifteen," Ann said instantly, stifling a yawn. "She woke the entire inn up at three fifteen in the morning, practically beating the door down. Weird kid."

"Three fifteen?" Jack repeated, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "I understand midnight, maybe even one o'clock. But she – what the hell possessed her to chose _then_, of all times, to make up with him?"

"I don't know," the redhead said plainly. "Logic has never been her strong point. So breakfast is just for the two of you, or do I make something for Sleeping Beauty over there?"

"Uh, yeah, send something over for her too," Jack nodded, frowning at the sight of his sister fast asleep on the table. "Poor thing."

"Oh Goddess," Ann gasped, her eyes widening at Veronica. "Don't tell me she broke a nail."

"More like her husband left her," Jack retorted dryly. "Now isn't the best time for your jokes."

Ann paused, looking genuinely surprised at the news. "Oh. I –" she hesitated briefly. "I'm sorry. Tell her I'm sorry." Glancing at the ground and looking slightly ashamed of herself, she nodded. "I'll get your breakfast."

"Wait, Ann –" Jack called, sighing as the waitress disappeared into the kitchen. "I didn't mean to snap at her..."

Mary gave him a sad, knowing smile as she squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Everything's incredibly stressful right now. Nobody's expecting you to be your usual rainbows and sunshine." She faltered at the look on his face. "Your usual manly, macho rainbows and sunshine."

"You're the best girlfriend in the world," he said fondly, watching in amusement at the immediate blush that covered her face. "Well that's interesting." He tilted his head slightly, raising one eyebrow. "Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girl-friend. GIRLFR –"

"Stop," Mary squeaked, pressing both of her hands over his mouth, her face an impossible shade of red. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and instantly took her hands away as he licked them, before wiping both hands on his shirt. "Jack!"

"You really don't like that word, do you?"

"It's – well," she stuttered awkwardly, "Not that I don't _like _it. I've just n-never... never, you know." Judging by the confused expression on his face, he didn't 'know'. "I've never _been _a _girlfriend _before. It sounds kind of... I mean, I like it. It's just strange –"

"You liiiike it," he started taunting, doing a peculiar little dance move that he instantly regretted as a helpless smirk crossed the librarian's face. "Uh... okay, I'm sure there's a... distraction around here somewhere to get me out of this situation before you say anything..."

"Jack," his sister's voice called from the doorway, making him start in disbelief as Mary frowned with disappointment.

"My beautiful, convenient little Jill," he beamed warmly, crossing the room and opening his arms for a hug. The blonde just gave him a weird look and backed away slightly.

"Is Ann really letting you drink this early in the day?" Gray said from behind Jill, the expression on his face perfectly matching hers.

Jack just glared at both of them, sulking his way back over to Mary who absent-mindedly patted him on the head, more interested in the reunited couple. "So you took him back?" she said stiffly, fixing Gray with a cold stare.

"Mary," Jill said quickly as Gray's grip on her hand tightened, "It's not – there was a, uh, misunderstanding. I'll... I'll explain later, but the thing that we thought happened with, you know, didn't, uh... happen."

"Ingenious code you have there," Jack said dryly. "I'm feeling incredibly left out here, g-" he turned to look at Mary incredulously. "You know something I don't?"

"I... know a few of things you don't," she said with a helpless shrug. Her boyfriend started to answer in an irritated tone, but Gray cut across, successfully shutting them all up.

"Tom's gone."

"Are you sure?" Mary asked, deliberately avoiding Jack's annoyed gaze.

"Saw him off myself," the blacksmith said shortly, unable to completely stifle a grin as Jill nudged him playfully. "He's gone. Might be coming back with a lawsuit, but –"

"You hit him?" Jack asked quickly. Gray barely had time to nod before he found himself stumbling backwards, the farmer literally throwing himself on him in a fierce hug. "I love you," the slightly shorter man declared passionately, before standing on tiptoes to plant a firm kiss on Gray's cheek. Scoffing and scarlet with embarrassment, Gray rolled his eyes and shoved Jack away – only to glance over his shoulder and see Manna, frozen to the spot, looking like her head might literally explode into thousands of tiny pieces. "Yes," Jack nodded to the woman, stepping forward to throw one arm over Gray's shoulders as behind him, Mary buried her head in her hands. "It's true. It's all true." For once in her life, Manna appeared speechless, simply squeaking something that sounded like 'blahfnjed' before tearing out of the inn as if wolves were after her.

"I would actually tear my eyes out right now if it would get rid of these mental images," Jill groaned, shaking her head. "Jack, get off of my fiancée."

He did so instantly. "I'm sorry... your _what_?"

"Maybe we should sit down," Mary interrupted, glancing over at Veronica. "It looks like she's still asleep. Everyone, just... sit." They all did, Jack appearing to be in some kind of dumbstruck trance.

"Fiancée," Jack echoed in a monotone before glancing at Gray. "I'm so lost. I don't know if I'm meant to be a big brother and separate your head from your neck, or be an excited friend and congratulate you..."

"I'm liking the sound of congratulations, personally," Gray suggested.

"For now, I'm just going to settle on a happy medium and pretend you didn't tell me yet," he sighed, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "Happy place, happy place, happy place... ah, did you make Tom bleed?"

"Did I make him bleed?" Gray repeated. "Jill?" The blonde obligingly pointed to her nose before making gushing 'blood' motions with her hands.

"I'm just scared you'll end up in jail or something though," Jill pointed out, ending her dramatic interpretation of Tom's injury. "I mean, if he does end up suing –"

"He won't," Mary said softly, twirling her dark braid with one hand. "He's not that stupid. There was an... incident, with me. I could get him for sexual assault."

"Goddess, Mary!" Jill exclaimed in horror while Gray mumbled something about 'should have hit him twice'. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's okay – I mean, Jack showed up before anything could really happen. I don't... don't want to talk about it right now, and I _don't _want my parents to find out. So if you two could... keep it quiet."

"Of course," Gray said gruffly, shooting a _look _at Jill who pouted in response.

"I can keep it quiet. Don't look at me like that."

"Just saying," Mary half-smiled, "That's why I don't think you need to worry about Tom suing you. I don't think he's that stupid."

"Aw man," Ann exclaimed, frowning as she struggled carrying Jack and Mary's plates and orange juice glasses to the table. "Gray, Jill – do you want breakfast too?"

They glanced at each other before shaking their heads. "I want to catch up on two weeks of missed sleep," Jill said as she got to her feet. You two enjoy your breakfast. She and Gray headed towards the stairs as Jack turned to Mary, a serious expression on his face.

"There's something I have to tell you."

"This isn't about you and Gray, is it?" the brunette joked, taking a sip of her orange juice. Jack glowered at her.

"Hey, being mature and sensible over here." He exhaled, watching vaguely as across the room, Veronica was rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Okay... my dad died kind of recently – you know that. But, um, you maybe didn't know that he... owned a very large company, and he left it to me in his will. And if I took it... I'd have to leave. I'd have to be living in the city."

"Oh," Mary said, barely whispering as she stared determinedly at the table. Jack reached out and tilted her chin up, lightly brushing her cheek with his thumb.

"I felt... I mean, I was really confused, because I didn't want to leave, but I felt... a sense of responsibility to my dad, for one, and I... Goddess, I _really _did not want Tom with any position of power in my family's company, and if I gave it up, it would pass on to Veronica. But now that they've split up..." he shrugged, smiling. "That's not an issue. I'll give it to Veronica and just... trust she knows what to do with all that power."

The librarian's eyes were bright when she looked at him. "You're sure that's what you want?"

"_Yes_, I'm sure," he said adamantly. "Mary, I couldn't leave y – uh, Mineral Town," he stuttered, quickly correcting himself, before lowering his voice and coming across as almost nervous. "I mean, I think... I think I love... Mineral Town."

Mary gave him a soft, shy smile. "I think I love... Mineral Town... too."

Jack grinned at her with more than a hint of his usual cheek, before standing up and leaning to peck her on the lips. "I'm going to tell Veronica that's what I've decided to do, and then I'll call the company. They needed to know before Spring 14th, so... I've only got about two weeks left now. I'll be back in a minute." He gave her a quick wink, then crossed the room to where his youngest sister had her head in her hands again.

"Hey Veronica?"

She glanced up, bleary-eyed. "Hey..."

"Look, I'm really happy here," he said plainly. "I don't think I could go back to the city now – just leave Jill, and especially Mary, behind. So... I want you to take Dad's company. I'm going to trust that you'll be smart with it... I know you will."

Veronica had been half in a daze all morning, but as soon as he mentioned the company she was instantly staring at him with a look that could only be described as utter horror on her face. "Not _quite _the reaction I was going for," Jack said, frowning.

"Oh my God," she murmured, clapping one hand over her mouth. "You don't know."

"Don't know what?"

"Dad changed the contract when I got married, Jack," she said urgently. "You know he was always kind of old fashioned, believing that men had their place and women had theirs –"

"Veronica, what are you saying?" Jack asked anxiously.

She groaned, bringing a trembling hand up to her forehead. "I'm saying that it's not my name next after yours to take the company," she murmured, looking her brother straight in the eye. "It's Tom's."

He blanched completely, staring at the redhead for a few moments before shifting to look at Mary sitting across the room. She was gazing into the distance and tapping her fingers on the table absent-mindedly, but eventually noticed Jack's eyes on her and shot him a warm smile. He half-heartedly returned it before turning back to his sister, whose extremely worried expression couldn't even begin to match his own.

**xxx**

**Remember, if I don't update soon, I expect to be shunned! I will update soon, I will update soon, I will update soon, I will update soon, I will update soon, I will update soon...**


	54. Chapter 54

**Augh! I missed the deadline by about five days xD and that means all you readers have a very valid excuse to not review. I'm back to school in two weeks, so I will try to have a really good start on the next chapter before the workload gets to be too much.**

**Weddings in Mineral Town are always dramatic affairs ;)**

**Awesome Rapidash**_ – Oh, I had WAY too much fun having Gray give Tom what he deserved. Thanks so much for the compliments, but I think I'm just so attached to my characters now that I couldn't possibly avoid writing them as real people if I tried xD._

**Little Poppet**_ – Believe me, I'll finish this story if it kills me, so don't give up on updates... and feel free to harass me through Private Messaging if I'm taking too long xD. I always intended to redeem Veronica, but she does deserve to suffer a bit for what she put everyone through. I'm glad you like the story! :D_

**AsianFlipGurl**_ – I know, it's been forever between updates lately and I'm so sorry, haha – I think I actually write more when I know I should be doing homework or something instead. When I have a lot of spare time it seems like nothing gets done! I'm really glad you liked the chapter and hope you're happier with this update in a third of the time it took for the last one ;)_

**Chang-Tong **_– Ooh, you changed your penname! WHY MUST YOU CONFUSE ME? Heh, well I won't complain about reviews even if I tell you not to ;) and yes, I didn't write it, but I'd love to see Manna telling Anna about Jack being with Gray... and Anna freaking out after all the work she did to get him for Mary, haha. And this chapter answers your questions about the company.. kind of. Read on!_

**Icefire149**_ – I left it there because I'm a bad cruel evil author who loves torturing you guys with cliffhangers and then not updating for months :D haha, thank you for the encouragement and I hope you get inspiration to keep going with your stories!_

**Random Jelly Beans **_– Well if there's one thing I love to hear, it's that people's families think they're insane when they're laughing at my stories xD and yes, Jack's dad should be brought back to life and smacked around a bit for signing it over to Tom's name. Poor Jack has a very difficult decision to make :(_

**Smash Genesis**_ – Haha, don't worry... I know when enough is enough, and I think this story's definitely gone as far as I can take it, as much as I hate to let go. There's no more dramatic plot twists after this one! Hope you like the chapter :)_

**Quartet**_ – Your reviews always crack me up xD it's always nice to hear your perspective on all these little plot bunnies. Like I said earlier, I won't be giving up on this story... there's not long to go now D: and here's another reader whose family members think they're insane thanks to me ;)_

**Kitty go moo **_– Well, if you MUST review I won't complain ;) and everything is coming together, even if there's still a few loose ends still hanging around. The story is so long that I sometimes wonder just HOW many loose ends there are that I forgot about completely..._

**xPaparazzixChickx**_ – What an awesome review XD. First, even I can't believe how much this story has matured from 'this is Jill. Jill has a farm. Jill has a farm and a brother.' to 'this is Jill. Jill has a crazy mega skank sister who steals boyfriends and gets pregnant with them. Jill's ex-boyfriend sexually assaults people and has affairs with eighteen year olds.' LOL, it's safe to say my mind has ventured to darker places since the start of the story. And damn that oath! I knew it would be my downfall xD. To be perfectly honest with you, though... when I started writing, Veronica and Tom and Jack didn't even exist. I made them up as I went along, and then invented the company, and then invented this plot point and that plot point and put that here and this there and – you get the picture :D_

**DoubleKK**_ – THEY NEED TO ALLOW THREE GENRES. This story is drama and romance and humor. It just is. And every time I look at the genre, it annoys me because I like humor and it doesn't fit dammit. Bah! And by the way, UPDATE. Just as a friendly reminder ;) and let me know how Romeo and Juliet is going and all that jazz and does your director make them kiss constantly? XD but for now your chapter awaits, so enjoy!_

**ArtAddiction2379**_ – Tom definitely deserved the punch to the face and more, haha! I'm sorry I've wrecked the happy happy happiness with the complicated company thing, but everything will be all worked out soon :) hope you like the chapter._

**Ekoaleko**_ – Twice, I have read your review. The first time, I was taking a sip of water and choked on it laughing. The second time, just now, I was taking a sip of water and it's currently dispersed all over my keyboard. You've taught me a valuable lesson, and I'll never have water near my reviews again._

**Cryptic Love**_ – FINALLY indeed :D he's gone! Thank you for the gibberish-y, smile-inducing review, and I hope you like the chapter XD_

**Jean Cooper **_– At least your food-related reviews make a tad more sense than my smiley face ones. Feel free to try knocking some sense into Jack any time you feel the urge! Most of the ends indeed... like I said earlier, this story is so long that I have no idea if there are like... plot points that I started and forgot all about._

**O. Beetle Beetle**_ – Hehe, I'm glad it brightened your day a little to see an update.. finally. Hopefully this one does the same – although I'm guessing a whole lot of people may slap me around a bit when they've finished reading XD_

**lilgurlbigat**_ – I'm glad you like the story still :) and I updated relatively quickly considering my recent absences of months and months :P so hopefully you like the chapter._

**Tara Blossom**_ – If you're quoting McDonalds, it MUST be good! Haha, thanks so much for the review and I hope you continue to enjoy :D_

**MysteriousGirlfriend**_ – Thank you so much! Here's the update, and I hope you like it :)_

**xxx**

New Year's Day had been and gone, and the day of Ann and Cliff's wedding had arrived. The past week had been incredibly busy and had passed beyond quickly for Jack. There had been an insane amount of preperations for the wedding to take care of as the best man, never mind preperations for the small New Year's gathering that he and Jill had been pressured into hosting because Ann was 'so tied up with the wedding'.

Besides that, on New Year's Eve, he, Mary and Jill had seen Veronica off at the dock – Gray had refused to come, still furious and not speaking to the redhaired woman. Saying goodbye to Veronica was surprisingly difficult, considering how long they'd been hoping for her and Tom to leave. Just watching her board the ferry, something about her looked so... lonely, so lost, it nearly broke his heart to watch her leave alone.

Oh, _and_ he still hadn't spoken to Mary about the new 'situation' with the company. He was getting there, okay? Everything was really peaceful; everyone was relatively happy right now, and he didn't want to ruin that just yet.

_You've got two weeks to give them an answer. Either you take the company, or Tom takes it._

He'd done everything he could think of. He'd made pro and con lists that always ended up balancing perfectly, spent hours brainstorming, played out every possible scenario in his head, but it always came back to one question.

Was it more important to stay with Mary, or keep the company out of Tom's hands?

If Mary wasn't a factor, he would have said yes to taking the company a long time ago. But damn it, he was absolutely _crazy _about the girl. Every time he considered leaving her, the sick feeling that bubbled up inside him was enough to force him to sit down and stop thinking about it all together. But the idea of giving away the work of generations of his family to _Tom_ just made the sick feeling multiply. It couldn't be anyone else in the entire, filled-with-six-billion-people world, no no. It had to be the one man who had broken both his little sister's hearts.

"Are you ready to go Jack?" Jill asked, interrupting his thoughts. He glanced up at her quickly from where he was sitting on his bed, fully dressed in a black suit and silver waistcoat.

"Yeah," he replied distractedly, pulling a black leather shoe onto his left foot and lacing it quickly.

"You look very smart," she teased, leaning against the doorframe in a knee-length, pale blue dress. "But how the heck you've been the best man at two separate weddings in less than a year is beyond me."

"Weddings are the ultimate expression of love," he said seriously, getting to his feet and walking across the room to grasp his sister by both of her shoulders. "I am universally loved by all. Therefore, on the most love-filled day of their lives, people want me to be a big part of it."

"Well you didn't get the position based on your modesty," Jill exhaled, rolling her eyes and stepping away. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

The two of them hurried out the door and started the walk to the church, Jack still lost in thought. "Have you thought any more about the company?" Jill prodded, wincing at the glare he shot her. "Well, you can't just ignore it. Two weeks, Jack."

"I know," he snapped, bringing one hand up to his head. "I've spent days and days thinking about it and I'm still no closer to making a decision. I can't win either way. I can't let _him_ take Dad's company, and I can't leave her. I – what would you do?"

Jill was silent for a few moments, before speaking up hesitantly. "I would stay."

"You can't just say that because you want me to."

"That's not why," she said softly, shaking her head. "I would stay because this thing, putting Tom against Mary – you're putting hate against love. And I want to believe that love is more powerful."

"It's not that simple."

"I know," she said quietly. "I don't want Tom to take something that belongs to our family, but I'd rather sacrifice the company than sacrifice your happiness. And I'm scared, because knowing you, you'll choose the company because you believe it's the right thing." She stopped walking for a moment, meeting Jack's eyes firmly. "It's not the right thing if it breaks your heart, Jack."

Unsure of what to say, he nodded sharply. "Thanks. I'll... I'll think about that."

"Good," Jill said, letting her steps slow as they reached the door of the church. Shooting her brother a half-smile, she pushed the door open and walked down the aisle to the back of the church, Jack following close behind.

**xxx**

"Where is Jack?" Ann asked nervously, pacing back and forth in her wedding dress. I need to see him and make sure everything's under control. Can't I just slip out –"

"You're not going anywhere," Mary said sternly, her glare slightly more intimidating than usual in the absence of her glasses. "Cliff can't see you in your dress."

"But how do I know everything's going smoothly?" she asked in exasperation, throwing her hands up. "What if everybody thinks the wedding's tomorrow and nobody shows up? What if _Cliff _thinks the wedding's tomorrow and doesn't show up?"

"The chances of that happening are very very low."

"I need to see Jack," she rushed on, waving at Mary impatiently. "He'll tell me what's going on. Goddess, he's three minutes late already!" She clapped both hands over her mouth and shrieked, shaking her head. "I just used the Goddess's name in vain in a church. That _definitely_ can't mean good things for my marriage. Sorry!" she called out instantly, tilting her head to the roof. "I'm so sorry. If you don't make it rain or anything like that, I'll never do it again. And I'll be super nice to Cliff when we're married, and still look after Dad when he gets old and not just ship him off to some old people care place in the city –"

"Ann," Mary called in a bid to distract the redhead. "Maybe you should –"

"And if I have a daughter, I'll name her Goddess Junior. Is that blasphemous? I'll name her Harvest Junior. And if I have a son I'll call him Scott because, well, I love that name, and lets face it, I can't name my son Goddess Junior unless I'm setting him up for some major parental hate issues later in life –"

"So, it looks like you got a lot of wedding gifts," the librarian called loudly, successfully snapping Ann out of her half-rant, half-prayer. Ann grinned, running over to the table stacked with wrapped presents.

"I almost forgot," she said excitedly. "I got, ah... a little something for my maid of honor," she continued with a cheeky wink. "Though it's more for Jack's benefit than yours..." she held out a rectangular box, taking the lid off with a flourish and pulling away tissue paper to reveal the contents. Mary's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh Goddess, I – I can't wear that –"

"Watch your language! Do you _want_ my wedding to be struck by lightening?" the waitress warned sternly, before beaming again. "And don't be shy," she insisted, waving one hand. "I promise you, he will _love _it. I have one too – different colors, though – and Cliff adores it more than I can say. Trust me, it's going to play a big role in a... _certain part_ of my wedding day." She raised both eyebrows suggestively at the stuttering librarian. "Go on, just... put it on."

"I can't. It won't suit me –"

"These babies suit just about anyone," the redhead promised, her voice starting to sound a little annoyed. "Come on – this is my gift to you, on _my _wedding. At least let me see you in it." As Mary appeared immovable, Ann sighed impatiently. "Look, we're both girls, it doesn't matter. You've got nobody to impress here – I'll tell you if it's flattering or not, honestly. There's no need to be shy about it."

"Ann, it's just... it's not my kind of thing," Mary pleaded, before realising that the woman wasn't going to give up and exhaling resignedly.

Approaching the bride's door from the outside, Jack was whistling a jaunty tune and feeling slightly better than he had for some time. There was just something about the atmosphere that was cheering him up. Besides, it wasn't every day your best friend got marri-

"IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY GODDESS, MY EYES," he cursed at the top of his lungs, reeling backwards and pressing his palms to his eyes firmly. "NO. NO. NO."

"Jack!" Mary wailed, throwing her hands over the offending garment in a fruitless attempt to hide. "Get out! You can't see me like this!"

"Goddess, Goddess, Goddess," he repeated in anguish, unable to see Ann wince every time as his face was still covered. "I'll never... _never_ look at you the same." A look of utter distress was etched on his face; he held up one hand to block Mary from his line of sight while shooting Ann a murderously aggravated glare. "Get it off her!"

Ann snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, like that's what you really want."

Jack snarled, turning around and pacing the floor behind him while glancing at Mary who was looking halfway decent once again. "I've known for a while now that you have no shame, Ann," he spat at the unaffected waitress. "But heaven help me, you will _not _corrupt my girlfriend!" He choked suddenly, fisting both hands in his hair. "I can't even imagine where you found that... disgustingly indecent –"

"Please," she scoffed, planting both hands on her hips and beginning to get irritated. "What's the real problem? You loved _mine _when you saw _me _in it –"

"I did not!" he exclaimed, horrified. A dangerous silence settled over the few in the room, while Jack's face was looking mortified at Ann's words. "Mares, honey, it's not what you think..."

"No," she cut him off. "Is that true? Did she look better in it than me?" she continued, folding both arms over her chest in disappointment. "It's no big deal... I mean, sure, she could probably pull it off better than me."

"She's lying, I swear to you. I just... I'm not into that kind of thing. Besides, it's not like I could help seeing her in it," he swallowed, "I was with her when she found it"

"You went hat shopping with another woman?" the usually gentle librarian exploded furiously, a note of humor in her voice.

"Worse. He bought mine _for _me," Ann said in a sing-song voice, carefully placing the canary yellow, polka-dotted hat into its rectangular box. "Mine was green, and he'd always pretend he didn't like it when we both knew he did. It was this thing we had. Right Jack?"

"_How _did you find it in yellow?" he groaned, making slow circular motions on his temples.

"I work in mysterious ways," was all she said, placing the lid on the box with a flourish. "Besides, Mary? It looks _hot _on you. Admit it, Jack."

"Mary," he said slowly, "You know I think you're super mega awesome pretty. And I'm crazy about you, and there's not much I wouldn't do for you. But if I ever see you in that hat again, it's over."

"If I ever have to wear it again I'll break up with myself," she promised with a quick shudder.

Ann glared at both of them. "Fine. I'll have both. Now... which one do you guys think goes better with my wedding dress?" Ignoring the dumbstruck looks on the pair's faces, she walked across the room and returned carrying an identical box, which she placed on top of its twin. "I'm thinking the green right now because, you know, I got it in the city when I was looking for Cliff. That's kind of symbolic, right?"

"You're going to wear the hat with your wedding dress?" Mary pressed, as Jack appeared completely unable to speak.

"Of course. I was hoping you'd wear the other, being my maid of honor and all. But whatever."

Jack seemed to be rallying somewhat, shaking himself slightly and giving Ann an apologetic look. "Ann... you may hate me now, but I promise that in a few years you will love me for what I'm about to do."

She opened her mouth to question him, but before she could utter a single syllable Jack had grabbed both boxes and bolted out the door.

"JACK!" she roared, shoving Mary aside and storming over, throwing the door open as if she were going to tear after him – before faltering and taking a step back, her wedding day superstitions all hitting her at once as her eyes narrowed. "That slimy, conniving little genius... he knows I can't follow. Ack. I can't even be insanely mad; I'm too proud of him." She closed her eyes and nodded slightly. "I raised the boy well. I did. But _damn _it, I want that hat!"

"Maybe your mother's tiara instead?" Mary suggested weakly, gesturing to the small silver crown resting on the make-shift dressing table. Ann sighed, as if she were suggesting some massive burden.

"I guess... Dad would probably like that better." After another sad sigh over the loss of her precious hat, the red head sat down and allowed Mary to arrange the tiara in her hair.

**xxx**

The wedding had been... unexpectedly sweet. Ann hadn't tackled Jack to the ground the moment she saw him – the 'you-_will-_pay' expression on her face more than sufficing – and Cliff had somehow managed to respond in a clear, almost confident voice during the vows rather than awkwardly stuttering his way through. Basically... the two of them were already making the effort to do what would make the other happy. While there had been people who'd had their doubts about whether the relationship would work – Jill included, she had to admit – hopefully Cliff and Ann were going to prove them all wrong.

"WOMEN," Ann's voice echoed loudly through the inn, the word itself seeming rather futile considering all the men looked too. "I'm throwing the bouquet, so if you're female and not married, get over here now!"

It was almost sad and very, very humorous to watch Jill, Mary and Popuri begrudgingly walk over to stand beside little May.

Grinning like a lunatic, Ann turned around and counted down from three before tossing the bouquet like a football. While Popuri and May were jumping and running around enthusiastically, Jill and Mary remained beside each other, their hands half-heartedly outstretched.

Of course, the flowers fell right into their arms, making their eyes widen as they looked at each other. "You take them," Jill said politely, transferring the bundle fully to Mary. "They fell more on your side than mine."

"Ha, no," the dark-haired girl managed to stutter out, handing them back to Jill. "You – you caught them, and you have..."

"It's okay –"

"No, really –"

"But you –"

"And you –"

"Shouldn't they be fighting over who gets to keep it?" Jack grumbled to a miffed-looking Gray, folding his arms over his chest and pouting as the two kept throwing the flowers at each other like a hot potato. At that moment both girls glanced up, noticed the highly irritated looks on their boyfriend's faces, and started an entirely different fight over the flowers.

"You know, you're right, I _did _catch them –"

"But I'm engaged, it makes more sense –"

A welcome distraction arrived in the form of Karen, racing past them all in the direction of the bathroom with one hand clasped firmly over her mouth. A slightly exasperated looking Rick was following her closely, closing the door behind them and quickly moving to pull her hair back from her face as she kneeled down and retched into the toilet bowl. "Karen, I can't believe you're already this drunk. It's barely six o'clock."

"I'm not drunk," she snapped defensively, her eyes welling up as she gagged again.

"That is _exactly _what someone in denial about being drunk would say."

"I'm not!" she wailed, openly sobbing now. "Don't be so mean to me!"

"Karen, you're being over-emotional." He knelt down beside her, stroking her hair lightly. "I just need to know how much you've had to drink."

"I haven't had _anything_," she insisted, glaring at him with watery eyes. "I've been drinking water all night because I'm so damn thirsty and even the idea of alcohol makes my mouth burn. I'm tired, and I'm upset, and I just _know _something's wrong. I'm sick," she cried, burying her face in her hands. "I'm really sick. I keep throwing up and I have headaches and my whole body hurts and I'm just scared something's really wrong with me and you're being mean and I can't stop crying!"

"When did it start?" Rick asked in a panicked voice, pressing one hand to his wife's forehead and wincing at the cold, clammy feel. "We'll book you in with Tim and Elli first thing tomorrow. No, we'll... we'll find them right now. I'll find them right now, and tell them – okay, can you repeat what's wrong?"

She wiped her eyes roughly. "In a nutshell, I'm nauseous, aching, and moody."

"Okay – I'll –" he froze again, all color draining from his face. "Wait, repeat that."

"_Rick_," she sniffled, glowering at him. "Nauseous, aching, moody. What are you- _oh_."

"We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves," he said quickly, his hands shaking as he pushed her hair back again. "We should just talk to Elli and Tim, a-and get, tests, or –"

"Oh my Goddess Rick," she squealed, clapping both hands over her mouth. "I'm –"

"No no, see, _this _is the very definition of getting ahead of ourselves," he interrupted, trying to keep his expression stern despite the smile threatening to creep onto his face. "We can't say anything, or – or get too excited when we just don't know."

"I know, Rick... I can tell," she said breathlessly, placing two hands on her completely flat stomach. "Call it a mother's intuition."

**xxx**

"Care for a dance?" a deep and very creepy voice asked Mary, confusing her more than anything else. She turned around slowly, exhaling and fighting back a smile as her boyfriend stood behind her, one arm held behind his back as he offered his other hand to her. He had an eyebrow raised and what he obviously presumed was a suave smile on his face. Again, with the creepy.

"Not really," she retorted instantly. "Some things have changed since the last time you asked-slash-forced me, but dancing still isn't something I enjoy."

"Then allow me to force you again," he said cheerfully, sweeping her up in his arms and mock-waltzing her out to the middle of the dance floor. "Let the music transport you..." he did a ridiculous swirly things with his arms, managing to grab Mary just before she could escape.

"You're extra silly tonight," she said suspiciously, forcing him to dance with his arms around her waist to stop the manic flailing he had been doing. She noticed the slight change in his expression. "What are you hiding?"

"A whole lot of dirty money and more than a few bodies. If you don't tell anyone, I'll share it with you and we can buy a nice little island in Europe."

Mary shook her head. "It's always a joke with you."

Jack frowned at her, looking offended. "Now that's just not true. Sometimes it's a riddle, sometimes it's a pun –"

She reached up to grab his face with both hands, staring at him seriously until his smile faded. "Jack. What's happened?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, grasping her thin wrists and pulling her hands away. "There's just... something that I want to discuss with you." The librarian nodded and he exhaled, intertwining the fingers of one hand with hers and resting his other hand on the small of her back while she placed her spare hand on his shoulder and danced with him less reluctantly, obviously just relieved he wasn't imitating a drunk squirrel anymore. "This is familiar," he smirked. "We were dancing just like this at Karen and Rick's wedding when you kissed me for the first time."

She glared at him aggressively. "For the final time, _you _kissed _me_."

"Come on honey, I think it's time you confessed the truth about tha-ow, ow, _ow_, okay, I did it, I kissed you," he blurted out, his eyes squinted shut as she relaxed her downright painful vice-like grip on his hand. "Are you on steroids?"

"Don't be such a baby," she sighed as her boyfriend jutted his lower lip out. "What do we need to discuss?"

He glanced at her apprehensively as the next song started, one that he recognized far too well. It was from an album that Ann had picked up in the city – she'd played it _constantly, _begging taxi drivers to put it on for her and completely wearing out Veronica's CD player with the damn thing on repeat. Some awful country music heartbroken nonsense.

_I knew love, when it still meant forever,  
When a feeling shared didn't always have to hurt,  
And a promise that was made would go unbroken,  
I knew love, when it was more than just a word._

"This damn song," he muttered, glaring at the wall above Mary's head. "I swear, I've heard it so many times I –"

"Are you changing the subject?" she questioned, and for the first time there was the tiniest trace of fear in her voice.

"No," he said defensively. "All I wanted to talk to you about was – well," he cleared his throat once, twice, three times. "Just... remember when I told you about my father's company? So right after I told you, I went to sort it all out with Veronica – you know, handing it over to her. Funny story though –" his mouth twisted into a grimace "– it's not as simple as I thought."

"Not as simple," Mary repeated, her expression guarded. "She doesn't want it?"

"No no, she does," he assured her, skirting around the real problem. "Yep, Veronica's ready and willing to take it."

"So there's a problem with the contracts?" She frowned. "You don't have to go to the city to sign anything, do you? I hated it the last time you went."

"There's no problem with the contracts," Jack said slowly. "I mean, all I have to do is let them know verbally and in writing that I don't want the company, and they'll pass it on to the next in line. I can achieve that with a phone call and a letter. It's actually... just that, uh, next in line wasn't the person that we thought."

"Not Veronica?" Mary asked slowly, shaking her head. "But that means... Jill?"

He almost laughed, but nothing about this situation was funny. "No, it... it means Tom."

There was a good twenty seconds of painful silence before she barely whispered, "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "Mary, I care about you so much that even _thinking _about leaving for good kills me." They were still dancing, but it seemed mechanical and automatic. "But... it's just... it's _him_. And it's everything my father worked for. And I can't – if my father had seen what Tom did to Veronica, you have no idea how furious he would have been. He'd have the worthless slimeball eviscerated, and he'd make sure he couldn't get a job anywhere. But then, there's you, and _Goddess_ I want to stay."

"How long do you have," she said, her monotone not even making it a question.

He winced. "Ten days."

She exhaled sharply, staring blankly over his shoulder. "So what are you going to do?"

_And I knew a time when hope was all you needed,  
And if you cared, you found a way to make things work,  
And life was what two people shared together,  
I knew love when it was more than just a word. _

"If I let him take this, I'm... _rewarding_ him for everything he's done to my family. I'm saying, look, you may have broken both my baby sisters beyond recognition, but go ahead and have the family fortune too. I'm..." his face changed suddenly as it hit him and he shut his eyes, head pounding. "Mary..."

"You have to take it," she murmured, a devastated understanding settling over her features.

"I think so," Jack replied quietly, valiantly trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

The hold of her hand loosened in his and suddenly they weren't dancing anymore. Dark eyes stared up at him, with so much confusion and bewilderment and _hurt_ flashing through them that he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. "And that means – we –"

"I don't want to think about that yet," he managed lowly.

"Oh Goddess," she choked, bringing both hands up to cover her lowered face.

"Mary, please –"

"Jack, don't," she managed to articulate, stumbling to the very edge of the dance floor. They had somehow managed to avoid drawing attention to themselves, and he seized one of her wrists while cupping her chin.

"Look at me," he begged. "You need to know how hard this decision is for me." His voice faltered while he held her wrist as if he couldn't bear to let go. "Mary, I lo-"

"Don't!" she cried out, clasping her spare hand over his mouth. "Please _do not _say that, Jack. Not now. Please, please don't make it harder."

"We don't have to break up. This doesn't have to be it." His eyes were glassy and he looked literally a few seconds away from crying. "It can't be."

"We don't have a choice and you know it," she whispered, sounding so defeated and lost that it literally sent a sharp pain through his chest. "I live in _Mineral Town_, Jack. You'll be working every day. You can't keep a relationship alive on one phone call a fortnight. If it's going to end, it needs to end now, because I cannot stand on the end of that pier and break up with you thirty seconds before you leave. I can't."

Jack's chin trembled and a single tear rolled down his cheek as he pulled the tiny woman into a tight hug, clinging to her with everything he had in him. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly in her fists, making a strangled noise as the sudden grief hit her, completely relentless. In the same place, the same situation where they'd first been brought together, they were breaking apart.

And then she let go. And with one quick, chaste, final kiss on his lips, she muffled her sobs and headed out the front door of the inn without looking back.

_I knew hearts when they made it all so easy,  
And sad goodbyes were seldom ever heard._

And Jack stayed. Long after she'd walked away, he stayed right there, staring at the door, oblivious to the puzzled glances from the people around him.

_I knew love, when I could still believe,  
it was the greatest power in the world.  
I knew love when it was more than just a word. _

**xxx**

Jill was contentedly sitting on the couch the morning after Ann's beautiful wedding, eating a bowl of cereal and zoning in and out of watching a Saturday morning talk show on the television. It was strange just how simple everything had been lately. She was happy, things with Gray were good, things with Veronica were healing...

"I need to talk to you."

Ugh. Of course.

"What, Jack?" she asked tiredly, leaning her head back on the couch so she was looking up at him as he stood behind her. He looked unusually serious, his arms folded behind his back as he shot a glance at the television.

"What are you watching?"

"Uh..." she hesitated, lifting her head to look at the screen. "They're all trying to make amends over this big family fight... I think she's having an affair with him, which that lady is definitely not happy about, because he's her son's girlfriend's mother's co-worker and he's married to that same co-worker's girlfriend's best friend's –"

"I was just being polite Jill," he interrupted, sitting down beside her as she quickly pointed the remote control ahead to switch the television off. "So... I talked to, uh..." his voice wavered slightly, "Mary, last night. About this whole company thing, and how I was having trouble coming to a decision."

"Oh, how did she take it?"

"We, uh... broke up," he mumbled, eyes downcast. There were a few quiet moments before he was smacked in the face with a pillow quite aggressively.

"What the _hell _did you say to her?" Jill exploded. "God, I knew you could be insensitive but –"

"Insensitive? Damn it Jill, it _killed _me."

"What did you _say_? Why did you break up? I know Mary, she's not dramatic enough to break up with you because you're torn –"

"Maybe I'm not torn anymore," he snapped in reply. Jill froze mid-word and stared at him in confusion. He exhaled, running one hand back through his hair. "I'm taking it, Jill. I'm calling today. Mary and I didn't end it because we fought, or because we –" he cursed suddenly, throwing his head back in exasperation and covering his face with both hands. "One night. That's how long we've broken up for, and it's already the hardest thing I've ever done. I can't –" he trailed off, realising that Jill still hadn't said a word. "If you're going to yell at me for not following my heart you can save it, because I really don't think the righteous act is working for you anymore. Following your heart usually leaves you in all sorts of trouble."

"I know," she said hoarsely. "And ignoring your heart is going to leave you in more trouble. Jack..." she glanced up, eyes glistening. "This isn't fair on her."

"It's not fair on me either! You think this is what _I _want? I hate this!"

"So don't do it! Stay!" the blonde pleaded, making a desperate grab for his hands. "Please Jack, _please _just let this grudge go. Don't do this to her... don't do this to me. Please don't do this to yourself."

He pulled his hands away from hers and surveyed her coldly. "I can't just let it go."

"But it's not your grudge to have!"

"I _owe _this to you and Veronica," he snarled. "I can't let that bastard get away with what he did to you both."

"You don't owe us anything," she retorted instantly. "You've looked after us our whole lives, and you've made plenty of sacrifices for us. I don't want you to make this one." She reached out for his hand again. "I'm not going to get mad at you so it hurts less if you leave. We do that too often. A-and if you think you'll be happier if you do leave, then go, and I'll support you. But I don't believe for a second that you're making the right choice here." Her voice softened. "I know you love her."

"I do love her," he said simply, standing up. "And I love you. But... I won't be alone if – _when –_ I go. I'll have Mom and Veronica and Kayla, and you'll have Gray, and Ann, and –" he knelt down, taking his sister's face in his hands as the tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Promise me you'll take care of Mary."

"Don't do this, Jack," she choked, wiping her tears away impatiently as he headed towards the door. "Just stop and think –"

He closed the door behind him firmly, shoving his hands in his pockets and exhaling slowly as he started the walk to the inn. It was early Spring and therefore a colder morning, a layer of very light frost visible on the grass and a sky that was still more white than blue.

It was just one foot in front of another all the way to the inn, automatic and monotonous. Jack didn't give himself room to think about what Jill had said – he knew what he needed to do, he reminded himself as he pushed open the door and walked over to the counter. He was doing the right thing, even if it hurt Jill and... Mary.

He could still change his mind. He could go to Mary right now, and apologize, beg her to forgive him – and they could be happy. He could tell her that he loved her, and not hold the words back to spare them both a lot of pain. He could _stay _and not have to face leaving her or leaving Jill or leaving Mineral Town. He could give the company to Tom and be done with it.

But instead, he picked up the phone.

**xxx**

**Jack's opinions on sad country music definitely do not represent mine ;) I'm a total sucker for the stuff. The song was called I Knew Love by Nanci Griffiths.**

**And I have two chapters and an epilogue left to write. I'm going to freaking cry.**


	55. Chapter 55

**I have nothing to say in my defense, really. School's killing me, my laptop broke, dancing's really intense, blahblahblah you've heard it all before. Basically... I got lazy with writing this, and that's not a nice thing to do when I have such wonderful readers :(**

**So if ANYONE is still reading this; you'll now see 'xxx' as the break between scenes, because for some reason my old one that I was using decided not to show up on anymore, which means I've had to replace every chapter because none of the scenes were separated and it looked messy and yuck. So if there are any new readers who have read through until here but were confused over a missing chapter or a doubled-up chapter, please let me know because I might have made a mistake while uploading them.**

**Again, I'm so so so sorry guys.**

**xxx**

"_So we'll see you on... Monday the sixteenth, Mister Evans! We're _so_ pleased you've made the choice to join us."_

Made the choice. Jack had almost laughed when the chirpy receptionist had said it. When, _when _in this whole mess had he been given a real choice? Betray his family or hurt the girl he loved? Give himself happiness or give Tom what he deserved? It was all set out for him, and it had been from the beginning.

If he'd been given a real choice, he would have chosen to keep Tom away from both his sisters from the very start. He would have chosen for his father to still be alive, happy to keep running his company until retirement. He would have chosen for Tom to be kept out of the will altogether. He would have chosen to never be given any choices, because when somebody else told you what to do, you could hate them instead of hating yourself. And he did, right now. He hated himself for this.

He honestly thought he could have both. He thought he could take the company and do right by his father, while somehow keeping up a relationship with Mary. Catch a ferry out every few weeks and see her, call her whenever he could find the time... but he'd been kidding himself. She deserved more than the occasional phone call, and he wasn't in any position to give her more than that. He was mad at himself for even suggesting such a thing to her – but she'd been completely right, as always. Either he stayed, or they broke up. Holding out for any other solution was just wishful thinking.

"_What_ do you think you're doing?" a female voice snapped, cutting into his thoughts.

Jack muffled a curse word as the lid of his plastic suitcase was slammed down, coming dangerously close to amputating several fingers. "Jill, are you insane?"

"You're not going," she said bluntly, sitting down on the suitcase before he could try to open it again. "I've tried to be patient, I've tried to let you come to your own realization that you're an _idiot_, but now I'm stepping in. Are you honestly starting to pack?"

"Jill, I'm going," Jack retorted in a low, annoyed voice. "Quit being so immature about this."

"Actually, for once in my life I'm being the mature one," she shot back angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're being ridiculous! Just let Tom have it – Veronica and I _do not care_. Holding this stupid grudge is going to destroy you." He opened his mouth to speak but she pointed a warning finger at him. "Shut up. I've never seen you as upset in your whole life as you've been the last few days over Mary, and I don't think she's come outside of her house or library even once." Jill smirked and shook her head. "You saw how devastated she was when she broke up with Gray – I can't believe you're willingly putting her through like, ten times that amount of pain." She raised an eyebrow, shrugging. "I actually thought you loved her."

"Shut your mouth," Jack snarled, grabbing his sister by her forearms and hauling her to her feet. "You have _no idea _how I feel about her."

"More than once, I've come so close to ruining my relationship with Gray," she said in a steady voice, despite the painful grip he had on her. "And you've always been there to tell me when I'm a complete moron. You never sugar-coat it, you don't care that I don't want to hear it. I'm trying to do the same for you."

"I don't need advice from you," he spat. "I'd go to Duke and Manna for relationship advice before I'd go to you."

"If you really believed this was the right decision, you wouldn't be taking your anger and guilt out on me like this," Jill said calmly. "You think if you hurt me badly enough, I'll leave you alone and just let you go – make it easy for you. Well, I won't. I don't care how low you stoop trying to hurt me. I'm your sister, and I love you, and I can't let you leave if you want to stay."

"It's not a choice anymore!" Jack exploded. "I've signed the papers, I've called them, I've booked travel and agreed to be at a meeting on the 16th. It's not possible for me to turn around now and say 'look, my sister doesn't know how to run a farm by herself and she's begging me to stay, so I've changed my mind about the company. Hand it all over to Tom please.' It's _mine_. I'm officially in charge."

"Don't you dare suggest I want you to stay so you can take care of the farm," the blonde said indignantly. "And it's not like you're locked in for life. There are ways to... to sell the company, or retire..."

"It's not open for discussion," he growled, pushing her away and wiping his hands on his jeans as if she were covered in dirt. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"But you _know _there are other options! I think..." she lowered her gaze. "I think you actually want the company. City life, and the money, and all the things we grew up with. You don't want to stay here."

"Are you accusing me of selling out?"

"No," she said softly. "Not selling out. But you're a city boy at heart. And when you came back from your visit to the city with Ann, something was different." Jack's face was stunned, as if he was only just realizing the truth in her words as she said them. "Do you miss it?"

He stared at her for a few more moments. "Well... yeah. But if – if the company wasn't involved – Dad's company, and Tom – I mean, I'd stay. I'd stay with Mary. But being here _forever_... even you can't want that, Jill."

"But I do," she said with a watery smile. "I _want_ to stay here for the rest of my life. This is where I've spent the happiest years of my entire life, and I could gladly spend the next sixty or seventy years without ever seeing the city again."

"But you were born there –"

"And I'll die here. I came here to start a new life and leave behind my old one. But you... you didn't really leave it all behind. You just came out to Mineral Town to see if I was okay..." an expression of understanding dawned on her features. "You never planned to stay."

"Not at first, no," he said bluntly. "Of course I didn't come here thinking I'd be here forever. I came to check on you... make sure you were doing okay, you know?" he hesitated for a few seconds, staring blankly ahead. "I... guess I just liked it here. I figured I'd stay for three, four months... and somehow that became years." He frowned at the stricken expression on his sister's face. "Jill, you must have known I didn't come to stay. I didn't know anything about the place – how could I decide I was going to live here forever?"

"I know," she said quietly, her eyes downcast. "I just... never really thought about it. I was so happy when you came, I never – thought about how it would feel when you left." Her bottom lip wavered. "You're really going, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am."

A few moments of silence passed between them before Jill finally glanced up, her eyes full with tears. "I'm going to miss you," she managed, her voice breaking slightly. Jack reached out to her, pulling her into a close hug and resting his chin on top of her head.

"It's not like you'll never see me again," he pointed out. "I mean... like it or not, you're coming to visit me in the city. And I'll... I'll call you, and come back and visit when I have the time."

"You won't have _any_ time to visit," she retorted, her voice muffled in his chest. "You'll be working all the time, and you'll stay back way overtime after you're needed at work and become one of those guys who grows old alone and never had a wife or a family because he kept thinking that one day he'd retire and enjoy everything he'd earned but eventually all the work and stress and drinking and one night stands will destroy your soul and you'll die lonely at thirty five!"

"... Okay, thanks for the support," he said slowly, detaching her clinging form from himself limb by limb. "Jill, you know I don't want to leave you, or Mary, or... pretty much anyone from Mineral Town. But I can't... just change my mind now. Everything's organized, I'm used to the idea of going home..." he closed his eyes briefly. "I just _hate_ ending things like this with Mary."

"You're both idiots for breaking up," Jill said, sniffling slightly. "You could make it work somehow. There's always another option, and you're just... quitting. I really thought two people as much in love as –"

"Again, I don't want you of all people lecturing me on how I handle my relationships," he said with a glare, pacing to the other side of the room. "Of course I hate that it's like this, but it's not fair to just leave her here expecting her to wait for me –" he stopped talking abruptly as realization hit, an incredulous expression on his face as he stared at Jill.

**xxx**

"So he pretty much started acting really weird and nervous, then basically kicked me out of his room saying he needed time 'to process his thoughts' or something. I don't know, I think he's going crazy," Jill sighed, resting her head on one hand, her elbow propped up on one of the inn's tables. "I still think it's a bad idea for him to leave. I mean, he's happy here, right?"

"But you just said he never planned to live here forever," Gray pointed out logically, making Jill pout. "Don't look at me like that. I know you'll miss him, but... I guess he has to do whatever's best for him."

"But he loves Mary _so much_," Jill insisted, shaking her head. "How can leaving be best for him when it's going to hurt him so much? I've never seen him as moody and snappy and quick to anger as he's been for the past few days – he's not that kind of person. Like I told him, he'll end up... I don't know, throwing himself into his work to drown out the pain, and cutting everyone out of his life, and dying alone and miserable."

"You watch too many movies."

"No. I just don't want him to end up like Dad," she said quietly. "You know, I didn't even cry when he died – because I literally didn't know him. He never spent time at home... he wasn't a father to me, or a husband to Mom for that matter, and he was dead at fifty years old. He literally died alone – his secretary found him dead in his office long after his heart attack. I don't want that life for Jack."

"He's a sensible guy and he loves his family," Gray said, a gentler note to his voice now. "I see what's making you nervous, but you know Jack's smart enough to avoid falling into that trap. He'll miss Mary... a _lot_, and I'm sure he'll be sad for a long time... but if he's making the choice to do this, he's capable of dealing with the consequences."

"I hate it when you go all logical on me," Jill said with a playful scowl.

"I imagine I'd hate it too," he replied with a smirk. "Luckily, I'll never have that problem."

"Oy," she growled, smacking his hand from across the table. "Be nice."

"If –" Gray never had the chance to finish his sentence, interrupted by a deafening bang. The gaze of every patron of the inn snapped up abruptly to see Karen and Elli standing in the doorway, each having flung one of the double doors open and standing in poses that, while obviously unintentional, were almost reminiscent of superheroes.

"If there is a dent in that wall –" Ann threatened, pointing a dishcloth in the general direction of the pair as she rushed to examine where one door had hit the wall. "What do you think you're doing, making an entrance like that?"

The women glanced at each other and Karen silently mouthed "one, two, three" before they squealed out in complete, scarily well-practiced unison, "WE'RE PREGNANT!"

A pregnant pause followed – pun _so_ intended – as everybody just stared at the two as if they were crazy. Which, look, all reasonable evidence was pointing towards. After a few more moments of incredibly awkward silence, Ann screamed in excitement and leapt on Karen, which served as a catalyst for Manna, Duke, Jill and Harris to swarm Elli and Karen while Doug, Cliff and Gray sent each-other glances of deep, sympathetic understanding.

"- and so I was almost certain that I _was_, okay, so I went up to the clinic to take a pregnancy test, right, and get this – the second I walk in, Elli's _just _tested positive! I took mine straight away, and when it came back positive we just absolutely freaked. Because we think hers is going to be slightly older, we've decided she's going to have a boy and I'm going to have a girl and they're going to grow up together and get _married_!" They looked at each other and felt that it was appropriate to squeal again, this time with Ann and Jill joining in.

Doug beckoned to Cliff and Gray to join him by the counter. "You," he said, pointing to Gray first as he inclined his head towards Jill, "Unless you want to live with this every day for nine months, don't get her pregnant. And _you_," he continued, glaring at Cliff who looked as white as a ghost, "Hurry up and get Ann pregnant. You've been married, what, four days already?"

"I – I – well, I –" Cliff stuttered helplessly, doing an excellent impression of a fish. Luckily – or not, he was interrupted by Karen waltzing over to the bar.

"Doug, hey Doug," she grinned, leaning towards him. "Ask me if I want some wine."

He frowned, confused. "Do you want some wi–"

"No thanks! I'm pregnant!"

"Well, some orange juice?" he offered.

Karen paused, biting her lip. "I actually don't have any money with me. I kind of did that whole wine thing for symbolic effect. And, uh, you kind of ruined it. But it's okay! I'm pregnant!" She darted back to Elli, grabbing both her hands. "We can go right now and just sit down and put our feet up all day and send our husbands out for apple pie or tuna or spaghetti in the middle of the night!"

"You should probably tell Rick you're definitely pregnant first though," Elli reminded her. Karen stared blankly for a few moments, mouthing the name 'Rick' as if she couldn't quite place it. Then her face lit up.

"Oh! Right! Okay, you go back to the clinic, I'll go tell Rick, and then I'll come up to you and we can plan out our children's lives. Okay?"

"Okay!" Without another word to anyone in the room, Karen and Elli made their exit as suddenly as their entrance, leaving a whole lot of very dazed and confused people behind. Manna soon darted out after the two, while Ann raced over to save Cliff from Doug's, frankly disturbing, questioning and Jill returned to Gray, grinning from ear to ear.

"That's so exciting for them!" she beamed, clapping her hands together enthusiastically. "Aww, imagine the little babies with their tiny hands and feet and..."

"So, what were we talking about?" Gray cut in, ending the baby rant before it could begin. "Jack, right?"

"Yeah," Jill nodded, immediately taking the bait and sitting down again. "I just... I _want_ to be supportive, but I hate it so much."

"If he's really unhappy, I'm sure he'll come back."

Jill bit her lip, exhaling through her nose. "Maybe."

**xxx**

"I've realized something."

Mary glanced up from her desk, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "What do you want, Jack?"

Closing the library door behind him, he clasped his hands behind his back and started pacing around the small area. "Jill said something to me this morning, and it's had me thinking. Mary –" he turned to her abruptly. "We're idiots for breaking up without thinking it through. I mean, yes, I'm going. Everything's organized, I've signed all the paperwork, and there's no going back now. And I kind of worked out this morning that I – I haven't accepted this offer just because of the company. I _miss_ the city. I grew up there, and I'm not like Jill – I always liked it there. And now that this opportunity's come up, I realize it's time for me to go back."

"I told you," she said bluntly, her eyes avoiding his gaze as if she knew she'd crack the second she made eye contact. "I can't just... wait around for a phone call once or twice a month. Maybe a visit every three or four months, if I'm lucky. That's not a relationship, Jack, and it's not like you'll be running the company short-term. I don't think I'm strong enough to handle it... knowing that you're so far away, surrounded by other girls –"

"_Mary_," he said in disbelief, losing his train of thought and genuinely insulted. "You think I'd cheat on you?"

"No," she replied softly, looking at him properly. "I think that... absence makes the heart grow fonder, to an extent. But if it became years... and we were seeing each other every few months... eventually the feelings would subside, especially for you, when you're meeting new, beautiful girls daily. We both know it."

"But I love you," he pleaded, ignoring the way she broke eye contact at that statement. "I don't look at other girls the same anymore. I don't _see _them as potential... girlfriends, I just see them as people. Anything else... and I only see you. We love each other, Mary. Right...?"

"Yes," she snapped, her eyes seeming suspiciously misty as she tried her hardest not to look at him. "Yes, I love you, and it _hurts_. And if you really loved me, you wouldn't be asking me to do this. It's not the waiting that I'm afraid of – it's the idea of spending years, so far away from you, and then realizing that you've changed your mind and there's nothing I can do about it because you _don't _love me anymore. You can tell me otherwise as much as you want, Jack Evans, but nothing you can say will make me feel any differently about it. If it's over between us when you leave, at least I'll... at least I'll know that no matter how painful it is to know you're over there single, it can't be as awful as the uncertainty of not knowing where I stand with you."

"You're insane," Jack growled. "You will _always _know where you stand with me. I've never felt anything close to what I feel for you before, ever, and I'm _not _going to throw it away for a fling with someone who's 'convenient'."

"I believe you," she pressed, her hands clasped together. "I do, I swear – but it doesn't matter. It won't change the way I feel. I felt so sick the entire week you were away in the city with Ann – I can't go through that again, especially not for so much longer." She shook her head slightly. "I'm not naïve, and I know a little more about the city than you think. I've read enough to know that it's bigger than Mineral Town on a level I can't begin to comprehend, a-and that it's exciting and full of life, and there's so much to see and do... I know all that. I can't understand why you've stayed in Mineral Town as long as you have when you've got the opportunity to live there instead. Once you go, you won't want to come back."

"Probably not," Jack agreed.

Mary hesitated, as if he hadn't expected him to agree with her. "So y-you... how can you expect any kind of future between us, when you'll be there... to stay? I mean, a long distance relationship would be difficult enough if you _were_ coming back, but –"

"I know," he said slowly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I know that no matter what we do, it's going to be hard. There's no perfect solution; I get that. But I... realized something this morning." He glanced away, uncharacteristically nervous about the way Mary's eyes were burning through him.

"What?"

He shrugged, shaking his head as if it were obvious. "My problem... isn't so much that I don't want to leave, and more that I don't want to leave you behind."

She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly despite herself. "That's the same thing."

"Actually, it's not."

She raised one eyebrow slightly. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded enthusiastically.

"... Okay, you're going to have to spell it out," she sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not understanding."

"Okay. Let's say... hypothetically," he began, scanning the room quickly and picking up the first book stacked in a pile on Mary's desk; on the front cover, a picture of a giant plant reaching high up into the clouds. "Take Jack and the Beanstalk, for example. And imagine... that after he exchanged his cow for the magic beans, which... I mean, you could say the magic beans were almost like a sister to him, in a... weird way. But his mother was so furious about, you know, losing the cow, that she took it out on the magic beans and threw them out the window. And when Jack woke up the next morning, the magic beans had... had grown, and now they were in a brand new mysterious place. And obviously, Jack's concerned about the... I guess the safety of the magic beans, because it wasn't their fault that things hadn't been working out for them, their sister beans had been cheating with their boyfriend beans, and besides she's really too young to be off gallivanting by herself in an unknown place –"

The incredulous look on Mary's face as he talked could not be expressed with words.

"Basically, Jack has no choice but to go up this beanstalk and check out what's going on up there, you know? And sure, everything's all fine and dandy for awhile, and maybe he starts thinking 'hey, this place isn't too bad at all', and he thinks maybe he could stay up there for quite a bit. A-and maybe there's like... a princess, or duchess, or damsel... no. Definitely a princess. Now this princess was beautiful, and incredibly smart, but she'd... been super upset for ages and was locked away in her tower for most days because of an – an evil spell, that had been cast on her heart and made it as cold as ice."

"What's wrong with my heart?" she asked indignantly, folding her arms over her chest.

Jack frowned. "I'm being hypothetical here. _Anyway, _so the princess is locked up in her tower and one day Jack's all, 'a princess? I should visit her.' But she's pretty much like 'go the hell away', which makes her even more interesting to him because, let's face it, this guy is pretty damn gorgeous and charming and intelligent and modest. And Jack and the princess keep meeting each other inconveniently and they argue every time they meet, but there's... definitely sparkage between them. Then one day, there's like, this grand ball because... the guy that keeps the uh, hens that lay golden eggs, is marrying the girl who works in the marketplace. And the princess is there and looks absolutely beautiful, and Jack asks her to dance and she eventually agrees to just once dance, but they end up with a kiss and a happily ever after." He smiled at Mary, who still looked confused out of her mind.

"What –"

"Well, a happily ever after for awhile, that is, until one day Jack gets a letter saying that his time in the Beanstalk kingdom is nearly up and he has to return to his home kingdom, which is much, much bigger than the Beanstalk kingdom. He misses his home kingdom, see, and he wouldn't be too sad about going back..." his voice grew slightly quieter, "But he knows that if he does, it will be hard for him to see his princess again." He gave the librarian a wry smile and she responded with a careful stare.

"Jack, let me be very clear with you," she said in a voice that one might use on a three-year-old. "Very, _very _extended 'hypothetical' metaphors do not always paint the clearest picture."

"Well, see, Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk thinks to himself, if the princess –"

"_Jack_."

He pouted for a split second, before standing up a little straighter and looking Mary straight in the eye. "Like I said, I don't want to leave you here."

"Yes, we've established that!" she exploded suddenly. "And you've also made it very clear that you're leaving regardless, so –" she cut herself off abruptly, turning away from him. "You shouldn't have come here. You shouldn't... it's not fair of you to do this to me." She span around again, a furious glint in her eye. "Breaking up with you was the most excruciatingly painful thing I have _ever _experienced. Knowing that in a week you'll be gone, and I'll be nothing to you –"

"Don't _ever _say anything like that again," he growled. "If you can still doubt my feelings for you after –"

"That's not what I mean," she shot back at him, glancing away. "I mean I won't be your girlfriend, and there'll be nothing stopping you from doing whatever you please with _whoever _you please –"

"Nothing stopping me apart from the fact that I'm in _love _with you!"

Her gaze snapped back to him. "Don't say that."

"Why the hell not?" he asked, throwing his hands out in front of him. "I'm in love with you. You know it, this whole damn town knows it, and I _know _you're in love with me too."

"Stop playing games, Jack," she said simply, her voice taking on a quieter, defeated tone. She lifted her head to look him in the face, and there was something almost fierce in her eyes. "I broke up with you because I didn't have a choice – neither of us did. I don't blame you, taking your father's company. If it were me, and the circumstances were the same... I'd take it too. The city sounds incredible, and you'll just... you'll have your whole life out in front of you, and there'll be so much for you to do and see... I can't keep you here. I can't beg you to stay, because I'd be taking something away from you that honestly, I'd probably give anything to experience myself." She tilted her head slightly, her eyes still completely focused on his. "I love you," she whispered, biting her lip. "You've – you've got no idea how much. I thought... I was _so _certain that I loved Gray, but compared to this..."

"Mary –"

"Don't interrupt me," she commanded, with so much heartbreaking _strength_ radiating from her, Jack couldn't have interrupted again if he wanted to. "When Gray and Jill got together, all I wanted was for him to come back to me. I didn't care how. I would wish horrible things on your sister; hope that she'd hurt him in some awful way and break his heart, so I could claim it again. I was willing to take anything from him I could get, even if it was broken or fake." The man opposite her was clearly uncomfortable hearing about Gray, and she allowed him the briefest of smiles. "I wanted anything to happen between them that would secure my own happiness, and no matter how much I said otherwise... I honestly didn't care how that would affect his. But with you... I can honestly say, for the first time in my life, I love you enough to willingly let you go."

There were no other words for the expression on Jack's face as he gazed at her than utter adoration.

"I don't care how cliché it sounds," Mary finished. "Knowing that I've let you go, and you're happy, is a thousand times better than making you stay with me... and seeing that some part of you regrets it." She exhaled. "But for you to come in here, and tell me that – that _stupid _beanstalk metaphor – it's the little things like that that make me want to be selfish and hold on forever."

He was still just... _looking _at her, as if he'd never seen anything quite like her before. "You are the most remarkable person I've ever met," he said quietly, his trademark smirk lifting one corner of his mouth. "But... you never let me tell you what I came in here to say." He waited for a smart-mouthed response about his tangent, but never got one. "Mary," he murmured, stepping closer and tilting her chin upwards.

"Yes," she managed, frowning in confusion once again.

"I want you to come with me."

The expression 'you could have heard a pin drop' sprang to Jack's mind during the immediate silence that followed, but he was more concerned that it would be Mary hitting the floor in a faint. Her face had achieved a level paler than 'ghostly' or 'paper-white' could convey.

"My Goddess," she stuttered, unable to move. "You're not serious...?"

"I've never been more serious in my life," he pressed, a heart-meltingly adorable smile on his face. "You just said it was an opportunity you'd take yourself, if you had the chance. I'm giving you the chance. You don't have to worry about your safety, or where you'll live, or anything like it. You'll be with me – my Mom will _finally _get to meet you – and I'll take you places. You'll experience the world, Mary. You're not the type that should be tied to one place."

"Well, but, I'd..." she was shaking her head over and over, completely taken-aback. "My parents – and I –"

"I didn't say it was perfect," he nodded, cupping her cheek with one hand. "But I think it's the closest we're going to get."

Slowly, one corner of her mouth twitched, before she broke into a full smile. "It's insane", she pointed out, throwing both hands over her mouth in an attempt to somewhat dim her helpless beaming. "We're _insane_!"

Jack didn't even try to argue that point. "Is that a yes?"

She stared at him, wide eyed as if she could hardly believe any of this was real, before shrugging and bringing both hands up to her forehead. "I – yes," she exhaled, "It's a yes, yes, _yes_," she affirmed, squealing slightly as Jack lifted her clean into the air and span her around ecstatically before kissing her hard on the mouth.

**xxx**

"You... what?"

Mary shot an anxious, desperate glance at Jack, who had a calm expression on his face as he stared straight at Anna. "Mary's coming to the city with me. I'll be more than able to support her."

They were standing in the middle of Mary's house, and announcing the news of her departure wasn't looking to go as smoothly as they'd dared hope. Anna had literally dropped the plate in her hand and was talking to Jack as she hurriedly picked up the broken pieces, while Basil was sitting silently at the kitchen table, observing the scene with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I – I don't doubt that," she stuttered, "And I... think it's wonderful that you two want to, and feel ready to, make this step together, but Mary can't possibly... I mean, she's never been out of Mineral Town!"

"That's what we're hoping to resolve," the dark-haired man nodded. "I promise you, my mother's house is in one of the safest neighbourhoods –"

"Safer than Mineral Town?" Anna asked incredulously, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, no. No, I can't... compromise my daughter's safety like that."

"Her safety is not at any risk," Jack assured her hurriedly. "I'll take complete responsibility for making sure she's safe. My mother's house is in a gated community –"

"The fact that it needs to be gated in the first place makes me extremely uncomfortable!" Anna pointed out, shaking her head again. "I know there are bad, bad people out there. I don't want my only child exposed to that."

"Neither do I! If I thought I was 'compromising' Mary's safety in any way, I promise you, I wouldn't be asking her to come with me. Her wellbeing is the most important thing to me, and I think that living in the city – at least for awhile – will do her a world of good."

"Not if she ends up murdered!"

"She _won't_," Jack exhaled, slightly exasperated. "I don't know how else to say it. Have you ever been to the city yourself, Anna?"

"No I have not," she retorted, lifting her chin, "But I've heard more than enough horror stories to last me a lifetime – drugs, and gangs and... pregnant twelve year olds."

"There are some bad places," he accepted. "But the job I've been offered isn't anywhere near those places. Do you remember when I accompanied Ann to the city? She came back without a scratch on her, and she's a million times more impulsive and careless than Mary. If she was alone... or with someone who didn't know exactly what they were doing, then yes, she may be at some risk. I'm not going to lie to you. But I've lived in the city my entire life except for the years I've spent in Mineral Town, and I know the whole place backwards. If you mix that with how much I care personally about Mary's safety... she couldn't have a better 'chaperone', if that's the right word. I would never dream of taking her into a dangerous situation."

"I – it's not that I don't trust you," she assured, clasping her hands together. "I think you're a remarkable young man, honestly. But you have to understand how troublesome the idea is of Mary being so far away."

"I know," Jack nodded. "I know that. I've been struggling for weeks with the idea of leaving her behind – I know how awful it feels to be apart from her. But I honestly... there are selfish reasons for me asking her to come, yes, because leaving her behind is one of the most awful things I can think of. But I really, truly believe that this is an opportunity she should take for herself, as well. She's a brilliant writer... over there, there'll be chances for her to make a career out of that."

There was a long silence, and the expression on Anna's face showed that she still thought this was a less than desirable idea. "Basil," she said suddenly, turning to face her husband, "What do you think about all this?"

He hadn't said a single word since Jack and Mary had announced their news, and now he stood up, looking his daughter straight in the eye.

"I want to hear what Mary has to say about this."

Both Jack and Anna abruptly turned to face her, matching expectant looks on the faces of both. Mary glanced at them each in turn, then directed her words to her father.

"I love Jack," she said softly. "And I didn't know what I was going to do with myself when he left. Now that he's asked me to go with him... I know I'd always feel bitter about it if I ended up staying here."

"I don't want to hear about Jack," Basil said simply, offering an apologetic nod to the man in question. "If you're going to the city just to follow him, I don't think you're going for the right reasons."

"I'm not," she assured him, her voice almost a whisper. "I've heard things... I've seen photographs and read novels and poetry... and the world is such a beautiful place. And I'm... afraid that if I stay here now, I'll never have the courage to leave and take the chance to experience that. I can't stand the idea of missing out on the whole world outside of Mineral Town."

"What's wrong with that?" Anna interrupted. "Darling, it's not safe out there. You're much better off staying here, where you know the people are good and the town is safe."

"I don't _want _'safe', Mom," she replied instantly. "I'm not looking for danger, and I'm not going to run off and get into drugs and get a hundred tattoos." At that mental image, Jack smirked. "You know me. You know I'm careful. You know _Jack_. But I want... experiences. Maybe you're happy staying in Mineral Town forever, and that's fine. That's what _you_ want. And seeing more of the world... that's what I want."

There was a silence following her words, before Basil broke it with the words, "I think she should go, Anna."

A bright smile lit up Mary's face, and Jack's was much the same. Anna simply looked at him in total confusion. "Basil, what are you –"

"We can't keep her here," he said, his eyes still locked on Mary as he said it. "Our girl's always been meant for bigger things than... looking up plants with her father forever. Jack can give her opportunities that... we can't." There was the tiniest trace of tears in his eyes as Mary ran over and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek.

"I love you Daddy," she said quietly, burying her face in his shoulder. She stood there for a few moments before glancing at the woman on their right. "Mom..."

"I know," she said quickly, allowing her daughter a tiny smile. "I understand. Just..." she shrugged helplessly, letting out a deep sigh. "Be careful." She hesitated again. "When... do you leave?"

"I'm catching the ferry on the fourteenth," Jack said gently. "Five days."

"Five –" Anna began to protest, before closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she was looking at Mary with a sad smile on her face. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Start packing."

**xxx**


	56. Chapter 56

**For the millionth, and second last time you'll ever have to hear this, I'm sorry it took so damn long to update. A part of me didn't want to upload the last 'official' chapter apart from the epilogue… on the bright side, it's a long one, and I think it wraps everything up nicely for the most part – and what it doesn't, the epilogue will.**

Thank you to my beautiful readers for your never-ending patience with me and my constant failure to update in a reasonable time frame :P this story has been a huge thing for me over the past few years, and – aw shucks, I promised myself I wouldn't get upset until I posted the epilogue, haha!

**Look, thank you all for being so supportive of my writing, even in the earlier stages when my abilities were… questionable, to say the least. I hope you enjoy this chapter, just as I hope you've enjoyed the rest of the story. I know I've enjoyed writing it.**

**xxx**

The air was too cold as the ferry hit the city dock; Veronica's jacket was far too thin to provide any warmth in this horrible weather between Winter and Spring. It had always been a pet peeve of hers, this... indecisiveness in the weather. The sun was shining, yet everything was frosted over... and unless you counted the people bustling around, unloading suitcases from the ship, calling to each-other in foreign tongues... nothing was moving. Everything seemed...

Well, dead. That tended to happen in Winter; things died. It was a fact of life. Everything that had been growing for three seasons, the new life that everyone had become accustomed to... vanished in one. The thing that kept time moving, though, the promise of spring and summer... all that had been lost would grow again, more beautiful than before.

Veronica shook her head violently, forcing her mind onto more practical things, refusing to let her eyes scan the area for a familiar head of dark hair. She knew Tom wouldn't be here, but no matter how hard one tries to extinguish that small flicker of hope, it doesn't go out until you see the evidence that it never existed in the first place. The empty dock before her was all the evidence she needed, and gritting her teeth and ignoring the hand that a young worker extended, she climbed down the slippery ladder by herself.

She had been an idiot – she could see that now, and the clarity of it all was actually painful now that the damage had been done. Mineral Town had been a mistake... she'd hurt her family, and lost her husband. Of course, the latter had simply been an issue of _time_, and the former had taken place long before the trip to Mineral Town had crossed her mind – but things could have been postponed; old wounds should have been left to heal completely before her presence in her siblings' lives could rip them open again.

And she could think about it for the rest of her life – try to puzzle it out, try to see what she could have done differently... but she didn't have the rest of her life to herself. Her daughter – her baby – her tie to Kayla's father, uncle, aunt, grandfather... all the people Veronica had lost. One lost to death, one lost to another woman... and two lost to herself. Jack and Jill had _forgiven _her – that was the difficult part. Because when she couldn't forgive herself... their pardons were completely irrelevant.

Everything passed in a surreal blur, buildings and nameless faces whipping past the taxi she had somehow gotten herself safely into. She couldn't remember rattling off the familiar address, but as the car pulled up to a familiar large brick house, recognition brought her back to reality. The well-kept garden, the large gates, the fountain that she'd thrown countless pennies into as a child – her mother's house, and the promise of her little girl just inside. She was suddenly desperate to see her; desperate to see Jill's eyes and Tom's hair, her father's chin, her mother's nose and Jack's smile... Veronica's daughter didn't resemble her in the slightest, only the people she loved, and that was the way it should be.

God forbid her angel should be ruined by turning out anything like her mother.

"Thanks," she murmured, passing the driver a ten dollar note. "Keep the change."

"Miss, you're fifteen short," he coughed. Veronica glanced up in bewilderment at the electronic screen displaying the fare.

"I don't think I have fifteen more on me," she whispered, pulling out the look that let her have her own way with almost any man she met, and kind of hating herself for it.

"Then you should've caught the bus," he sighed, jerking his thumb towards the door. "Go on, get outta here before I change my mind."

"Thanks," she said once more, dragging her suitcases hurriedly behind her and stumbling a little. She should have blushed when she didn't have the money; a few months ago she would have been mortified beyond belief - but things like that seemed kind of trivial to her now. All she wanted to do was hold Kayla, and the only thing slowing her down was herself. She quickly picked up the pace, tripping a few more times in her haste to get up the endless white stone stairs before rapping on the large door sharply, her patience wearing thin.

The sharp clicking noise of heels on polished wood sounded from inside the house, and when they became muffled, Veronica could picture her mother cutting her way from the hallway through the lounge and walking over the beige carpet. She really did know this house as well as she knew her own name... though she hadn't realized it until that moment, this had been the only home she'd ever known.

"Veronica," Linda Evans exhaled, pushing the door open and throwing her arms around her daughter. She smelt sweet; comforting, and Veronica breathed in deeply.

"Mom," she choked, ashamed of herself as easy tears sprang straight to her eyes.

"Welcome home, darling," she smiled, and it didn't help to see that her eyes were suspiciously bright, too. Her words were so fitting; it was all Veronica could do from transforming into a blubbering mess. She shook her red curls back and blinked a couple of times. "You look so tired," Linda continued, her voice concerned. "Have you been sleeping?"

_Not recently,_ her daughter's brain replied. Her mouth lied however, assuring Linda that it had simply been a long ferry trip. "So you don't mind if I stay in my old room for tonight, do you?"

"Of course not," she laughed. The beginnings of silver roots were just noticeable in her blonde hair. "Where's Tom? Is he coming in?"

"He went straight home," Veronica told her, biting her lip hard. True, he would have gone straight home when _he _got to the city a couple of weeks before, but by now he and his things would be well and truly gone. Woe betide the fate of any photographs, clothes or belongings he'd left behind – fire restrictions or not, she was having a 'farewell' bonfire when she got to her house. "Um... where's Kayla?"

"She's playing in the nursery," Linda said with a fond smile. "She's an absolute darling. Were you here when she started talking?"

"Of course," she replied defensively through narrowed eyes. "I was only gone for three months, Mom. How much could I have missed?"

The older woman raised an eyebrow and took her daughter's face in between both her hands, examining it. "Honey... you look ill."

"Kayla," Veronica growled, wrenching her face away and staring sullenly at the floor. Her mother nodded slowly, looking a little confused, but started down towards the nursery again. They didn't cut over the lounge area this time, making their way through the well-decorated, familiar hallway before Linda stopped just outside a door. "Mom," Veronica whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. "Jill's room... you didn't..."

"It's not like she's going to be back to claim it anytime soon," she snapped back, however, her face soon softened. "But... how are they? Jack and Jill? Did anything happen between Jack and that lovely girl who came to stay?"

"Ann?" Veronica asked sullenly, rolling her eyes. She and the fiery waitress hadn't been the best of friends, to put it lightly. They were far from the ideal pair of sisters in law. "No. They were just friends, you know. He's... he's in love –" she smiled, despite herself, "– her name's Mary. She's very pretty, nice manners, intelligent... they balance well. It's nice."

"Oh," Linda beamed, her eyes sparkling. While Veronica had been her baby, and received a large amount of attention as such, she was always her father's child. Jack was far and away their mother's pride and joy. First born, only son... it made enough sense. And, of course, the middle child had been constantly overlooked. "That's lovely. He told me about her. I can't believe he's... he's coming back. He must have been so sad to leave her." She hesitated, with a look on her face like she was forgetting something, before her eyes lit up. "Jill? How are things for her?"

"Can I tell you later, mom?" the red haired woman begged, practically dancing on the spot. "I want to see Kayla."

"Yes, yes," she exhaled, twisting the silver doorknob and slowly peeking around the corner. "…Kay?"

Veronica pulled the door wide open beside her, too impatient, then stopped in her tracks. "My God..."

She was... _so_ much more amazing than she'd ever remembered. None of the photographs taken could do any justice to her. It... must be criminal for a two-year-old to be _that_ beautiful – nothing could take away from her adorable white smile, the bright blue of her eyes, her perfect dark curls with a pink bow, undoubtedly courtesy of Linda. A complete darling – nothing like her mother in any way, exactly how she wanted it.

"Mum," she bubbled, reaching up towards her grandmother with chubby hands. "Mum." Linda looked slightly embarrassed as she scooped Kayla up, letting her snuggle into her shoulder.

"She started calling me Mom, and... it was nice," she said, a blush growing on her cheeks. "I let her, and it's become a bit of a habit. Of course, she knows you're her mother... she's just being mischievous, calling me it."

"Mum," she said again, pointing to a beanbag and pile of books in the corner where Jill's bed had once been.

"Shush, sweetie. Not just now. Look, mommy's right there!" She turned Kayla towards her mother, and her big blue eyes widened in alarm. She squirmed into her grandmother's shoulder, peeking at Veronica shyly. "Don't be silly, Kayla. There's your mommy. Veronica."

She peered up again, her eyes more interested than alarmed now. "Icka."

"That's right," her grandmother cooed, nodding enthusiastically. "Veronica. Mom."

"Mum," Kayla garbled, pointing to her grandmother again. "Mum. Icka."

"Come here, Kay," Veronica whimpered, holding her arms out for her. She squirmed a little, reluctant to leave the woman holding her, but giggled as long red curls tickled her face.

"Icka," she said proudly, confident with her very cute pronunciation of her mother's name. Veronica beamed down at her, breath catching in her throat. How could she have ever left her? Of course, back then... she hadn't felt that Kayla was as important as she was now. As awful as it sounded, her daughter had not been the main thing in her life – now, she was the only thing she hadn't lost. And yet, she'd been away from her long enough at such a young age that the girl had already started calling somebody else her mom.

"Kayla can stay in her room here, and you can stay in yours," Linda was saying, interrupting a quiet moment. Veronica shook her head slightly, gazing down at her girl, her huge blue eyes travelling the room excitedly, and suddenly, she... she wanted Kayla to herself for the night.

"Mom?" she said, touching her arm lightly. Linda glanced at her curiously. "I... changed my mind. I think I'd better get home to Tom –" she stumbled over his name, but it went unnoticed. "– he'll want to see Kayla."

"Honey, you look exhausted," her mother protested.

She shook her head adamantly. "I'll rest better when I'm at home – I mean, at my apartment. Really."

She stared at her daughter for a few moments, and for an instant there was something unrecognizable in her pale blue eyes. "I'll call you a taxi," she finally sighed, turning away and walking into the kitchen.

Veronica backed into the hallway, Kayla still resting on her hip, and located her Mom's handbag by the front door. She ducked down, rummaging through it with one hand until she found a wallet, before pulling out a twenty to cover the taxi fare. Linda would have gladly given it to her, she knew that – hundreds, _thousands_ if she'd explained the situation... stealing wasn't necessary, but she would rather take the guilt of pocketing money than the shame of admitting that she didn't _have _any. She had, after all, grown up with excessive, disposable cash... and to find herself stupid enough to wind up in this position...

"I got someone who was just around the corner; he'll be here in a second," Linda announced as she walked back into the room. The younger woman hurriedly shoved the money into the back pocket of her jeans and received a confused, worried glance. "Veronica... are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine," she snapped more aggressively than intended. Her mother took the tiniest of steps away from Veronica, her cheeks beginning to flush scarlet.

"Sorry, darling."

"Don't be," she exhaled slowly. To the immense relief of all, there was a knock at the door and both women hurried to answer it.

"Afternoon, Miss," the cab-driver said, grinning at the two women and Kayla. He was a good looking young man, probably twenty-five – blonde and tall – a refreshing and surprising change from the majority of balding, middle-aged men who seemed to drive the taxis around the city. "I'm afraid I've got a little bit of a situation," he continued sheepishly, wringing his hands together. "I hope you don't mind – I've got my wife and a good friend in the car; I've got to take them somewhere now and did promise that I would – unfortunately, I'm still on duty. Of course, I'll take you to your destination first, but do you mind sharing the cab? I'm so sorry to ask –"

"That's fine," Veronica interrupted, waving one hand to cut him off mid-apology. "I don't mind."

"I can call you another cab, Veronica," her mother said over her shoulder, her lips pursed together disapprovingly. Her daughter shot her a quick scowl.

"I _said_, it's fine." _Just get me out of here_. The blonde man shot the red head another grin, reaching forward to pick up her suitcases. Veronica caught a glimpse of a wedding ring on his finger, biting her lip and glancing down at her own. Truthfully, she wasn't sure why she was still wearing it. "Okay, uh... bye, Mom."

"Goodbye," she said with a smile, kissing her daughter's hair gently. "Bye, Kayla." She kissed her granddaughter's hair as well, waving once more and closing the door once they were halfway down the path.

Veronica paused at the fountain while walking to the bright yellow taxi, and in an instant, had pulled the ring clean from her finger and tossed it into the clear waters, leaving it to glint inconspicuously against the coins gathered on the bottom. She would tell her mom what had happened before she could notice it there. Then again, the chances of her actually looking closely enough to see it weren't too likely. "You okay, Miss?" the driver asked, and she glanced up distractedly with a quick smile.

"Yes..." He opened the back door and the young woman retreated in, barely noticing the man sitting next to her. She clutched a fussy Kayla tightly on her lap, exhaling slowly as she realized she didn't have to lie any longer. The blonde man got into the cab, turning and flashing another smile.

"My name's Jake Andrews. This here is my wife, Rachel –" a relatively pretty young woman in the front seat turned and peered around to smile. She was clothed in an expensive looking silver dress and had obviously just been to the salon; Veronica briefly wondered where she was going. "And next to you is my good friend –"

"Kai," the man next to Veronica cut in, extending a hand. She turned her head to examine him and raised an eyebrow, reluctantly impressed. He had a very dark tan; so dark that he had to have foreign parents – she would have guessed that he was a foreigner himself, but he wasn't carrying an accent. His hair was even darker and had a careless, tousled look to it, while his eyes were darker still and sparkled even in the poorly lit cab. His white teeth were showing as he grinned, and he was dressed in a very flattering black suit – obviously going the same place as Rachel. "Nice to meet you."

"Veronica Smi – Evans," she retorted eventually, refusing to use the name of her husband, whether it was her 'legal' name or not. The man's eyes widened a little when he heard the last name. "Is there a problem?" she asked, more curious than annoyed.

"I... just... knew someone who had that last name," he shrugged. His grin returned as he continued. "But I guess it's not exactly uncommon."

"Where to, Veronica?" Jake requested from the front seat. She rattled off the address, and he nodded sharply. "That's on the other side of the city. Should get there in twenty minutes."

"You don't need to be somewhere before then...?" Veronica asked slowly, truly curious about where they were going.

"Nah," Kai answered for him. "Rach and I are going to a restaurant opening in about an hour. I'm a chef, so... I guess I've got to keep tabs on my competition."

"You have your own restaurant?" she pressed, vaguely interested. He blushed slightly and glanced to the front of the cab, where Jake and Rachel were involved in a conversation about a recent news event.

"I work at a couple of places around the city. No place of my own, right now. I mean... I used to travel to a little town and run my own restaurant there during summers... but it wasn't right for me there –" He shrugged. "– I'll end up selling it. Too small... no real business opportunities."

"Ah," was Veronica's quiet reply. Kai smiled, reaching out and tapping Kayla lightly on the nose.

"She's beautiful. Is she yours?"

"Yes," Veronica said, a hint of pride in her voice. "My daughter. Her name's Kayla."

"She looks just like you."

She shot him the most hateful glare she could muster; he literally, subconsciously scooted as far away as he could without removing his seatbelt and jumping out the door. "She does _not_," she managed through gritted teeth, "Look anything like me."

"Well, actually –" he began, before apparently thinking better of it. "Well... she's gorgeous. I guess you have a husband...?" he blanched slightly, seeing Veronica's instant reaction to that. "I meant, uh, fiancé. Partner. Boyfriend. I –"

The red haired woman stared at him for a few moments, truly unsure how to answer. Legally, she was still married... though Tom had made it perfectly clear that that wasn't how their relationship stood emotionally. "No," she eventually murmured. Kai seemed to realize that he'd stepped on another landmine, and quickly changed the subject.

"I have a friend who lives in the same apartment as you," he observed. "You don't know a girl named Lucy, do you? Robinson?"

"Blonde?" she asked, closing her eyes briefly and trying to picture the young woman who lived across the hallway. Kai nodded, his face lighting up.

"She's big into the cooking scene, as well. Really successful – I mean, to live in that area you kind of, uh, have to be. In fact –" he launched into a description of an event they'd been to recently, chuckling to himself as he replayed several situations 'Lucy' had gotten herself into. Veronica found herself actually laughing after a few minutes; the sound shocked her so much that she stopped immediately, as did Kai. "Sorry, did I... did I say something wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"No, I just..." There was a long pause. "We're nearly at my apartment." Sure enough, the streets were flying by, more and more familiar now. Kai was silent until the taxi pulled up right outside the apartment block.

"Twenty six dollars forty," Jake called from the front seat, not paying much attention to Veronica's reaction as he adjusted the mirror. She pulled the twenty out of her pocket and closed her eyes in mortification. Twice in one day? Really? Kai reached out; for a moment she genuinely thought he was making some strange attempt to hold her hand, but he silently put a ten dollar note into it and glanced back out the window. Veronica opened her mouth to protest, before realizing that she didn't really have another option, handing the money to Jake, and climbing out of the car, struggling to hold Kayla to her chest. Jake began to step out of the car as well, but Kai clamored out before him and held up a hand.

"I'll take her bags up. I want to drop in and see if Lucy's coming tonight, anyway." Jake shrugged and got back in the cab; Kai grinned in Veronica's direction once again. "Which floor?"

"Twelfth," she replied meekly. Kai's face lit up.

"Same floor as Lucy. Awesome."

She smiled awkwardly, a little puzzled by his ever-present enthusiasm. She didn't know all that many people who could still talk normally to an unfamiliar person who had – and she _knew_ she had, albeit unintentionally – come across as more than aloof and strange and, well, broke... several times in the last twenty minutes. Yet he kept the smile firmly on his face, never failing, and seeing it there made _her _want to smile. Almost. "Th-thank you for the money, in the cab. I don't usually... like, at all. Ever. I just got caught out..."

"Don't worry about it," he breezed, making the woman at his side fall silent. They got in the elevator and Veronica's heart started pounding faster, imagining what would happen if the man she still resentfully loved was standing in the apartment, waiting to apologize... waiting to beg her to take him back. And they could watch their beautiful daughter grow up, and grow old together... "The doors are gonna close on you," Kai said suddenly, snapping her back to a harsh reality where the chances of Tom waiting for her were slimmer than her pre-baby waistline. She hurriedly followed him out of the elevator doors while Kayla yawned quietly and buried her little head in her mother's shoulder.

"Here," Veronica said, rummaging for her keys and letting the door swing open. Truth be told, she wasn't sure what to expect, but... she didn't expect that everything would look so much the _same_ as she'd remembered. She had thought that... without Tom's presence, the room would be bare... cold. And it was, but not in any way that her eyes could see.

"Wow," Kai whistled, both eyebrows elevated. "Nice apartment."

"Thanks," she murmured distractedly, her eyes fixed on a sheaf of paper on the bench. She set Kayla down gently on the floor, before walking over and picking the pile up. When the words on the paper registered, she dropped it like it had burned her and clapped her hands to her mouth, instant tears springing to her eyes.

The bastard had left the divorce papers for her – and as if that wasn't enough of a slap in the face – left a yellow sticky note with the words 'Welcome Home, Baby' printed in his recognizably neat handwriting attached to the first page.

"Uh, Veronica, are you okay?" Kai asked, leaving the suitcases at the door and hurrying to the woman's shoulder. He got a glimpse of the papers in her hand before she shoved them behind her back and turned to face him. His dark eyes were wide with shock and concern – Veronica dreaded to think about what he could possibly be seeing in hers.

"Thanks," she managed to whisper in a strangled voice. "For the suitcases. Maybe you... should go..." he didn't even flinch at the insensitive words, nodding in understanding and striding over to the door.

"You sure you're okay?"

She nodded silently, the tears that were streaming down her perfect cheeks betraying her as a bold-faced liar. "Take care of yourself, Veronica." His gaze was steady and worried. "See ya, Kayla." He shot one final, distressed glance and closed the door quietly behind him.

"Come here, honey," Veronica choked. Kayla pouted, her dark curls bouncing as she toddled over. Her mother took a seat on the couch and set her down on her lap, facing her so she could examine the child's face, trying to see the resemblance that Kai had spoken of.

It was there, she immediately realized with a sinking heart. She didn't have Veronica's eyes... she didn't have the same hair, or nose, or ears – but there was something in the general appearance of her face that reminded Veronica of the woman she saw in the mirror each morning.

And filled with self-loathing as the tears started up again, she silently asked God why he would curse such a beautiful little girl with such a horrible affliction.

**xxx**

"Are you scared?"

"Terrified," Mary replied breathily, staring blankly out at the ocean as the ferry approached slowly.

It was just after dawn, and she was standing with Jack a little way in front of her parents, Gray, Jill, and Ann. The weather was strange – it wasn't quite cold enough for a jacket, nor was it quite hot enough to go without one. There was no breeze either – everything was just very, very still, almost as if time had temporarily frozen.

Jack smiled gently, taking her hand in his and squeezing lightly. "You'll be okay. Just think of everything that you're going to see out there."

"I am," she assured him, flashing a quick smile in return. "I'm just... going to miss Mineral Town as well, you know?"

He studied her face briefly, exhaling. "I know." He reached out to lightly brush her hair back, but flinched as a powerful shove in the small of his back prompted him to smack her in the face – very lightly, but a smack nonetheless. She wrinkled her injured nose at him, rubbing it gingerly as Jack turned to glare at the culprit.

"You guys have a whole ferry trip to yourselves and then ages in the city!" Ann exclaimed impatiently. "Pay attention to us!"

"Quiet, you nuisance," he commanded, glancing fearfully at the skeptical expressions on Basil and Anna's faces and calling out to them as they approached quickly. "Accident!"

"Did you just punch my daughter in the nose?" Basil asked, sounding genuinely confused. Ann chuckled slightly, prompting another fierce glare from Jack.

"I swear, that doesn't happen often."

"_Often_?"

"I'm fine, Daddy," Mary laughed, screwing up her nose a few more times for good measure. Her words seemed to do little to alter the nervous expressions on her mother and father's faces, and she frowned. "Uh, honestly, it was an accident –"

"No, we know that honey," Anna said with a quick smile. "It's... it's not that." She glanced at her husband as her smile became sad. "I suppose it's just... n a few – well, minutes – you're going away to a strange place... and we don't know when we'll see you again. We love you so much, and we want you to be happy but... it's just hard."

"I know, Mom," Mary said softly, her eyes beginning to grow suspiciously bright. Basil put one arm around Anna before reaching out for Mary, and as she quickly ran into his hold, Jack took that for his cue to inconspicuosly walk away to where Gray and Jill were standing with Ann. He had to do an almost comical double-take when he realized, however...

"Ann... are you _crying_?"

"S-shut... up," she stuttered, frantically wiping her nose on her sleeve and blotting at her eyes. "I get really bad hay fever at this time of the year, a-and –" She blinked furiously, shaking her head. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Gray and Jill exchanged alarmed glances behind her, while Jack raised a surprised eyebrow.

"Sure you can. But I have to tell you, if this is a confession of love... _really _bad timing, Ann."

"Don't be disgusting," she scoffed, prompting Jack to look a touch offended and pout slightly as he led her away to a slightly more private and distanced area of the beach, right next to the stairs leading to Rose Square. She glanced at the ground nervously, sniffing and wiping her nose again. "Okay, so I suck at this, and if you laugh, I'll mess you up."

"I probably won't laugh," Jack replied solemnly, painting on a straight face. "What's up?"

"I just –" she exhaled, closing her eyes tightly before blurting out a string of words. "I mean – we argue, all the time, you know? I mean, we argued about five minutes ago. But it's not... _bad _arguing. I mean, sometimes, I... like it. It helps if I've been stressing all day or if I'm about to have a nervous breakdown – I just think, hey, I can take it out on Jack, because I know you won't really get mad at me for it, and you'll... you'll make me feel better." She glanced at him briefly, her cheeks colouring. "I guess I'm just... going to miss that. I'm going to miss you, and it's only really registering now that I'm not going to see you or talk to you every day, and... I guess I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

His expression was a mixture of surprise and a peculiar sadness. "Ann –"

"No," she said quickly, holding one hand up, "Can you just... not? I mean, I just came down here to say goodbye, and now I'm realising that the only time I've ever had to say goodbye like this is with my Mom... and I don't even remember that."

"I'm not dying," he said gently, "I'm going to come back and visit –"

"When? In a year? For how long, a few days? A week if I'm lucky?" She bit her lip. "It's just not going to be the same here without you, that's all I'm saying. And I kind of hate that." She rolled her eyes, smirking slightly as she wiped further tears away. "God, I'm a sap."

"We can talk on the phone whenever you want," Jack insisted. "I can still drive you insane without being there physically, you know. Don't you underestimate me."

She snorted in a remarkably un-ladylike manner, shaking her head. "That's the thing. I love Jill and Gray, and Karen, and Popuri, and Elli... I _love _Cliff. And I kind of love you a little as well. Don't let that go to your head. But..." she shrugged in a failed attempt at non-chalance. "It's not like any of them can just replace you. You drive me so _completely_ insane that there's nobody to replace you with here even if I wanted to. But... you'll be off meeting a whole bunch of red-haired chicks who can be your best friends over there, and in a month it'll be all, 'Ann? Annnnn. Sorry, nope, doesn't ring a bell. Hold on, wasn't she some waitress I knew once?' And I'll still be like 'Gee, I miss my best friend Jack.' It's kind of gonna suck."

He moved forward to grip her shoulders firmly. "In twenty-four years, I have never – maybe thankfully – come across anyone even remotely like you. Somehow, I don't think that's going to change in the next month, or year, or, uh, ever."

"You say that now," she grumbled sullenly, folding both arms over her chest.

"I mean it," he said sincerely, leveling her with a sweet smile. "Oh... and I love you too."

She made a peculiar choking noise at that as furious tears welled up again and she half-hugged, half-tackled him around the waist. "I'm going to leave in a few seconds," she mumbled as clearly as she could with her face pressed into his chest, "Because I don't want to watch you get on the ferry. So, I'm just – I'm just going to say that I love you, and I'll miss you, and you'd damn well better call me every day because if you don't I'll get on a ferry and drag your ass back home like I did with Cliff." She glanced back up and jumped on her toes to spontaneously kiss his cheek, missing and barely grazing his chin. He smirked, then bent down so he could kiss her cheek softly in return, prompting her to make another choked noise and mutter a muffled goodbye, before turning away from him and running up the stairs and out of sight as fast as her relatively small legs could carry her.

Puffing his cheeks out as he exhaled, Jack shook his head slightly to clear it. That one goodbye was more painful than he'd originally imagined – he was going to miss the idiot to absolute pieces, and it was making him nervous to realize that Ann wasn't the hardest goodbye he would have to make this morning. He blanched as he turned to notice the ferry a _lot _closer than it had been previously.

Very nervous.

He let his gaze fall on Jill for a split second and was instantly overcome with a feeling of intense sadness. Her facial expression and body language were completely and totally closed off, and had been for the past few days as the deadline of Jack's departure came closer and closer. Even Gray, standing with an arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, wasn't seeming to connect to her at the moment. He quickly glanced to where Mary and her parents were crying – her mother, at least – and engrossed in a deep conversation, then exhaled again and started making his way back to Gray and Jill.

"You sure you've got everything you need?" Gray asked as he returned, trying to start up the conversation. "The farm still looks basically the same."

"Yeah," Jack nodded distractedly, "I think so. There's not much I really need to take with me... most of my stuff is still in the city anyway."

"Right," Gray replied quickly. There was a long silence before he let go of Jill and took a step back. "Well, I've just remembered the... thing, that I was meant to – with the – I'll be over there." He hurried away to stand by the pier, raising one hand to wave at Zack as the ferry pulled closer.

"So... how are you feeling?" Jack asked his sister, feeling oddly awkward about it. She shrugged, examining her fingernails as if they were infinitely more fascinating than her brother's permanent departure.

"Okay. You?"

"Jill," he begged, touching her lightly on the shoulder. "We can't do this now. If we... you know, detach ourselves, we're going to regret it."

"I'm not detached," she mumbled, none-too-convincing. "It's early and I'm exhausted. Besides, you're not leaving for –" she glanced up, and her face fell completely as she watched the ferry begin to dock. "About... ten minutes..."

"Please, Jill."

Her chest tightened instantly and she ducked her head to fight back the inevitable. "I honestly don't know what to say now. I've said everything I can. You know I hate this. I don't want you to go –" she rushed on as he tried to interrupt "And I know, that's selfish of me to say, and you miss it there, and you and Mary are going to go be in love and see Mom and Veronica every day, and that's all great, but..." she frowned, willing herself not to cry; not yet. "Weren't you happy here?"

"The happiest I've ever been," he answered, completely truthful. "I do love it here. I loved living with you, even when we were fighting and screaming bloody murder at each other or completely not speaking. And I loved waking up every day knowing that I would see my baby sister and I'd be able to protect her, and I hate that that won't happen anymore." His voice was quiet, and he shook his head slightly as he maintained steady eye contact with her. "Leaving you is the hardest part of this."

"The thing is, I miss you _already_," she said urgently. "I miss you and you're standing right in front of me – what the _hell _am I going to feel like when I haven't seen you for months?"

"But you'll have Gray –"

"And you'll have Mary, but like you said, you're going to miss me anyway." She searched his face briefly, hesitating. "I didn't have many friends growing up, Jack. You, Tom, and at times Veronica – that was it. And he's – Tom's gone now, and I have Gray and that's _so _much better for me... but you're the one that's always, always, _always _been there, since the day I was born. You made my favorite honey sandwiches for me, and fought bullies for me, and taught me how to ride a bike, and helped me with essays, and you'd play my girly computer games with me when I was little, because I didn't want to play the scary violent ones. You're the first person I told when I broke up with Tom and when I left home, and you were the first person to care enough to find me. And then you came here, and you've been looking after me ever since, and I just want to know _how the hell _I'm meant to deal without you!"

"But you've done it before, Jilly," he pleaded, using his childhood name for her and feeling altogether too emotional. "You were so brave to come here and you handled it so well by yourself until I followed. Maybe you weren't making a farming fortune, but you were _surviving_, and you know so much more now. You've watched me on the farm. You know how it works. You don't need to be scared about managing by yourself."

"I can't, Jack," she said, her voice strained.

"Listen to me," he insisted, placing both hands on her shoulders. "You are beautiful, and smart, and funny, and so, so strong. You've been through a hell of a lot more than any other girl I know your age – and you know what? You're alive. You dealt with it, you moved on. You _know _you can, and I get that you're scared – I get that you're terrified. I'm terrified of making such a big change too. But you're going to learn so much more about yourself when you don't constantly have your big brother standing over your shoulder, and you're going to learn to be as proud of the girl you are as I am, and you're going to love her as much as I do. Almost."

"God," Jill managed, sounding completely strangled, "Stop. I, I swore blind to myself that I wasn't... going to cry."

"Hey, I'm going to cry," he half-laughed. "Feel free to join me."

"Jack! Boarding you now, departure's in five minutes!" Zack yelled from across the beach. Jack paled, biting down hard on his bottom lip as he turned back to his sister.

"You don't understand how much I'm going to miss you," she murmured resignedly, impatiently wiping the first tear away from her cheek.

"I do," he replied, his tone humorous as he hugged her briefly. "Like, fifty percent less than the amount I'm going to miss you." He pulled away, giving her a weak smile as he nodded towards the ferry. "I have to go."

"Do you love me, Jack?"

His gaze fell on his little sister and he traced her face for a moment, committing it to memory. "More than anything in this world, Jill."

"Jack," Mary called, her face ghostly white as she watched Zack throw first her suitcase, then Jack's, on deck. "We have to go."

With Jill following behind, he walked over to where Gray, Anna, Basil and Mary were standing together on the pier. Gray kissed Mary lightly on the cheek and gave her a small smile that she returned, followed by Jill doing much the same. Gray then shook hands with Jack, and when Basil clasped Jack's hand, the older man's eyes were teary.

"Look after my little girl," Basil said simply, his voice quiet. Jack had to smile.

"I'll do my very best, sir – but I somehow think I'll end up needing her more than she needs me."

With nothing to say for once, Anna kissed her daughter's hair lightly, followed by the same for Jack, then took a step back to stand arm in arm with her husband, further back on the beach, where they would stay to watch the ferry depart. Gray followed shortly, tactfully standing back again to leave Jill as the last person standing with her brother after Mary had stepped on to the boat. He squeezed his sister's hand tightly, pulling her forward to press his lips firmly against her forehead, before closing his eyes and following his girlfriend on board.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked the dark-haired woman one last time, gently wiping a tear away from her soft cheek with his thumb. She gave him a wavering, yet brilliant smile.

"Yes," she whispered, gazing out at the vast ocean. "I'm sure."

The ship's foghorn sounded loudly, blaring out over the quiet of Mineral Town's morning – a sound that would barely be heard over the bustle and noise of the city when they arrived. And then they were moving slowly, the boat beginning to rock from side to side as the pair gradually left their loved ones behind.

"Jack!" a small voice called; he turned to see his sister running down the pier with her hand outstretched. He grabbed it tight and leaned down to kiss it once more, holding on until the very last, until a sudden rock of the boat and the distance between them forced them to truly let go. "I love you," she called, tears streaming down her face without apology now.

"I love you too," he replied, not even embarrassed to find tears of his own suddenly in full force. Mary was crying softly beside him; he wrapped his arms around her as he watched Mineral Town slowly fade away – first the people; Jill, Gray, Mary's parents – then the detail of the trees, the beach, the buildings – and then finally the island itself, disappearing until it was indistinguishable on the horizon from the hazy blue-green of the ocean. And finally, when he was certain that he could no longer see any of the place that had once been his home, he turned away from the past, taking Mary's hand as they looked towards the city and their future together.

**xxx**

She hadn't spoken for three hours.

Truth be told, it was beginning to frighten him a tad. They had literally been there in the same spot on the beach since the ferry left – well, she had – standing at the edge of the pier until the ferry was long gone from sight. He had walked up to join her after about ten minutes; at some point they had moved from a standing position to a sitting one, with her tucked between his legs, her back resting on his chest. Yet still, she was staring blankly out at the water as if expecting Jack to come home suddenly, and in all that time, she hadn't uttered a single word.

"We're going to get sunburned," was all he could think to mumble to break the silence. His words made Jill jolt, as if she had completely forgotten he was there, before her body relaxed and she settled back against him once more.

"I'm scared," she admitted quietly. Gray raised his eyebrows slightly.

"What are you scared of?"

Another silence followed, before she shrugged so slightly he barely noticed it. "I guess... going back to the house without Jack tonight. I know you said to him before he left that the house barely looks any different... but if _feels _different. He's not there anymore. He's not going to come in after working and trample mud all over the floors, or impulsively cook a hot breakfast in the morning, or watch any of those awful, boring farming documentaries on the television. It's going to look different, and smell different, and sound different, because he doesn't live there and he'll never live there again... and that scares me."

"Is there anything I can do?" Gray asked, feeling completely helpless. Jill tilted her head back so she was smiling at him almost upside down.

"I feel okay now... better, I mean. Just... can you stay with me for awhile? I don't want to be alone; not yet. If you could stay for a few nights – or as many as you're willing to... I just know that sleeping in the house alone is going to be the hardest."

"I'm there for as long as you'll have me," he said adamantly, kissing her blonde hair. "I don't want you to be alone either. And hey, staying with you beats alone in my room at the inn any day, now that Cliff and Ann are married. I mean, not that it didn't already," he rushed, "It's just that I... I get the lonely thing, too. And it's not like I enjoy company as much as you do in the first place. So, I'll stay for as long as you want me."

"I want you for as long as you'll stay," she replied quietly, a significance behind her words."

"Don't tempt me or I'll stay forever," he said gruffly, letting one of his hands trail down her arm to grasp her smaller hand. She squeezed it momentarily, her gaze back on the ocean.

"Why don't you?"

"Why don't I what?"

"Stay forever?" she pressed, more than entertaining the idea. "Move in with me, Gray. It's not like we haven't temporarily lived together before. And we're engaged, this kind of seems like the next logical step. You'd be closer to your work, and neither of us would be lonely."

A smirk flashed across his face as he watched _her _face intently. "You're actually serious."

"Why wouldn't I be?" she insisted. "Come on, you know we'd be amazing living together."

"I would love to," he said sincerely. "Honestly, I can't think of anything I would love better at the moment – but I think you should take more time to think about whether this is what you want, and make sure you're not just rushing into this because of Jack."

She looked slightly affronted as she shifted herself to face him completely. "Gray, I love you. I'm not just saying this because I don't want to go home to an empty house, and I don't want you to think for once second that I am." She shook her head. "I want you to move in with me because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. We're engaged, Gray, and as far as I know, that's pretty permanent. I want this, and if you want it too... why would we wait?"

He kissed her gently, cupping her face with his hands. "Of course I want it."

"You're not replacing Jack, either," she said softly. "You're two different people – and Jack's in my past, and he's going to be in my future – but you _are _my future. We're going to work out, I know that. We're meant for each other."

A rare, brilliant smile lit his face up and he wrapped his arms around her again, holding her tightly – and knowing now that he would never have to let her go.

**xxx**

"... I did it." The expression of total shock on Mary's face was priceless as she sat by Jack's side in a taxi speeding to his mother's house, staring at him. "I actually – I mean, I'm here."

"Yes you did and yes you are," he nodded with a grin, reaching out and squeezing her hand tightly. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," she replied, sounding slightly breathless as she stared out of the window next to her. "I don't know how to feel. I'm... overwhelmed. I mean, it's a good feeling... it's just... a _big _feeling. And your –" she exhaled slowly, closing her eyes for a moment. "Now I'm going to meet your mother."

"Don't be scared about Mom," he laughed, brushing one hand in the air casually. "She's only ever kicked about eleven girls out of the house and made me break up with eight or so. She's cool."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better," she murmured, turning to stare at the city flashing past her window. "God, this is... unreal. It's like I'm dreaming or something – it's so _different_."

"I kind of get that too," Jack said, twisting his mouth slightly. "And I lived here for the vast majority of my life. It's a completely new world." He turned to her once more, smiling. "I must admit, you're taking all this a lot better than Ann did. She wouldn't even get _in _the taxi without a huge amount of force."

"I read a lot," she murmured absently, as if that was the explanation for everything. "How long will it take to get to your mother's house?" When she didn't receive a reply, she turned to see Jack in deep thought, his mouth slightly open. "... Jack?"

"... Mom doesn't know you're coming," he said slowly, twisting his mouth. "Awkward."

There was a long silence before Mary managed to choke out the single word, "What?"

"God, I can't believe I did that," he groaned, smacking his hand to his head. "I was so caught up in the last minute stuff, changing the bookings to account for two people, arranging the farm for Jill – I haven't even _spoken _to Mom since you agreed to come with me."

"B-but she's going to freak out!" Mary exclaimed worriedly. "She's going to think it's so… so rude of me to just, _intrude_, and she'll tell you that you have to get a more polite girlfriend who lets people know in advance when she's going to be living with them!"

"It's only for a few days, and like she'll care," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "You don't know Mom… when Veronica and I threw parties there'd be up to thirty or forty very drunken teenagers crashing at our house for the night. You're not going to be imposing or anything like that. I'm really sorry I didn't tell her, I am, but it's also really not a big deal. You'll be like… a surprise present. Like a kitten, or a potted plant."

"I don't want your mother to think I'm a potted plant!"

"Well, not _literally_. Ah," he smiled, clapping his hands once. "Home sweet home."

Startled by how suddenly they seemed to have arrived, Mary gave a barely audible whimper as she looked up.

And up.

And up.

"That's not a house," she murmured, shaking her head a few times in disbelief. "Jack, _mansion _is an understatement."

"It's not much, but it's home," he said, bowing his head humbly and receiving a smack for his efforts.

"This is… _incredible,_" Mary blurted out, shaking her head again. "I've never seen anything like – you grew up here? You went from here, to that tiny little run down farm? God, no wonder you came back here… I just can't believe you stayed for so long when all of this was waiting for you."

"There was more than enough to stay there for, my dear," he said with a side-smile, getting out of the taxi and walking around to Mary's door, opening it and extending one hand to help her out before moving over to pay the driver. "Come on. Deep breaths."

"I'm not scared," she retorted defensively, her face ghost white. She silently walked with Jack up the huge staircase, carrying a small bag of her belongings timidly in front of her, and stood to the left and slightly behind him as he confidently rapped on the large door.

After a minute or two the door opened and there his mother stood, frighteningly perfect and intimidating in a mass of makeup, perfume, and immaculately styled blonde hair. She didn't look a day older than thirty five, though taking into account that Jack was twenty four… Mary's guessing was probably a tad off. Hopefully.

His mother blinked at Mary once, then turned to Jack, a questioning expression on her face. "Welcome home, darling. Uh…"

"Hi, Mom. This is Mary," he said simply, a look of pride about him as he gestured to the woman by his side. Linda paused, giving the dark haired girl a once-over, before her face broke into a bright smile.

"So, you're the girl who's managed to tame my son. I'm Linda Evans. I've heard a lot about you – and don't think I'm saying that to be polite. I'm rarely polite when I don't have to be."

"Case in point," Jack mumbled under his breath.

"It's lovely to meet you," Mary said shyly, her gaze fixed on Linda's. "You have a wonderful home."

"Well, you've only seen the outside," she said with a bright smile. "Come in, you two. I've missed my darling boy." Throwing her arms around Jack, she led them into a wide hallway and straight down into a bright, spacious kitchen. "I only made lunch for three; I didn't know you were bringing your friend. Luckily Veronica cancelled –"

"Veronica was going to be here?" Jack asked, frowning. "Is she… spending a lot of time here?"

"She'd been avoiding me," Linda said, rolling her eyes. "You know it took her until _yesterday _to tell me that she was finally out of that toxic marriage? She honestly thought I'd be _disappointed _in her, of all things. Idiot child."

"My mother... a flair for the mature insults," Jack laughed, standing up and stretching his legs. "Mares, I'm going to take our stuff up to my room if you want me to show you around –"

"Plenty of time for that later," Linda said, waving one hand. "You go. Let me get to know the girl."

"Alright… play nice," Jack said with a grin, nodding to his terrified girlfriend then heading out of the kitchen. Linda moved over to a fridge the size of a small country and pulled out a whole lettuce, before walking over to the sink and beginning to shred it with her hands.

"You – you must have missed Jack when he was away," Mary said quietly in an effort to start a conversation.

"Yes," was Linda's curt reply. "I did."

"O-oh. And, I guess with Jill still over there – I mean, it can't be easy having your children so far away. I know it was really hard for my parents to let me go."

"I suppose," the older woman said shortly, heading back to the fridge and selecting several tomatoes to bring to the bench.

"… Right," Mary nodded, folding her hands in her lap and glancing urgently towards the doorway, unsure of what exactly she'd done to offend this woman.

Taking up a large, sharp knife, Linda started cutting up tomatoes with a little too much dedication, before beginning to speak, still not making eye contact with Mary. "I'm sorry if I come across as stand-offish, because the truth is you seem to be a very genuine young woman. The thing is though – let's not beat around the bush – Jack's a rich man, and he's only going to get richer."

"Excuse me?" the dark-haired girl asked in disbelief, her eyes wide behind her glasses. "I'm not sure I understand you."

"He's very attractive too, but let's face it, it's a lot easier to find an attractive young man than someone with the money Jack has. I mean, girls your age marry eighty year old wealthy men all the time – that's how truly desperate some of you get."

"Are you… are you accusing me of being a gold digger?"

"Sweetheart, don't take it personally. I'm only going on past experience here, and Jack really does seem to like you an awful lot. You can't expect me to hand out my approval to every Sally or Jessica or Georgia that waltzes through here."

Mary had always considered herself a patient person, but at that, she stood up and folded her arms over her chest angrily. "I'll have you know that your son and I were together for months before I heard anything about this company. We never talked about money because we were kind of busy falling in love. And if you can't see how completely _extraordinary _your son is, and the only reason you can see for me being with him is _money_, then I'm not sure I want your approval!" A long silence followed, before…

"I like you," Linda said, nodding as if she were agreeing to a casual remark. "Good girl. Don't be one of those bimbos who lets yourself get walked all over." She smiled. "I do believe that your heart is in the right place. Just as a side note though, if you hurt my boy, my people will hunt you down. Okay?"

Looking dazed, the ex-librarian nodded slowly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good girl," Linda repeated with a beam, walking over to throw her arms around Mary. "Welcome to the family."

**xxx**

"Jill... are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm just kind of dizzy," she mumbled in a low voice, her head resting back on Gray's chest. They were both seated on the single bed in his room, his back against the headboard and Jill's small body positioned between his legs while his arms wrapped around her protectively.

"Just... let me know if it gets worse," he implored her, his left hand stroking the delicate engagement ring on hers. "I hate seeing you like this."

"Nothing's wrong," she laughed. "Come on, I haven't slept properly in awhile, that's all. I don't freak every time you have a headache."

"... Uh huh," Gray said slowly, his mind flashing back to the previous day when he'd accidentally lightly banged his elbow against the wall and Jill had spent about an hour begging him to go see the doctor about it.

"It's easier than I thought it would be, you know," she continued, staring at her hands. "Being here without Jack. I have you to thank for that. You've just... having you around, I don't get the chance to be lonely."

He tightened his arms around her for a moment. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."

With a soft smile, she turned to kiss his cheek lightly before staggering to her feet, a deep frown on her face. "Gray, I don't feel so g-"

The blacksmith let out a soft curse as he sprang to his feet, managing to support most of the woman's weight before she hit the ground. "God, are – Jill?"

She whispered something incoherent through half-lidded eyes as he scooped her up in his arms easily, hitting the door with one shoulder as he raced down to the clinic, trying not to jolt her. She had, for the most part, come to by the time they were actually standing in the clinic doors and she weakly struggled until Gray let her down to stand on her own feet with his support.

"What's the problem?" Tim asked, all business as Elli stood diligently behind him with a clipboard, her stomach beginning to noticeably protrude.

"She just... basically fainted at the inn. I mean, she wasn't unconscious but she – I mean, she's been feeling dizzy all day and –"

"Right," he said sharply, cutting Gray's ramblings short. "Jill, come with me and we'll do some quick tests – blood pressure, heart rate, maybe a blood test. It's most likely just a combination of the heat and stress." He led the blonde away and held up a hand as Gray moved to follow. "No need; there's no reason to panic. This should only take a few minutes. Have a seat."

A few minutes passed, then ten, then twenty, and by the time half an hour had gone by Gray was just about ready to storm into the doctor's office. Luckily, there was no need as Tim pulled the door opened and beckoned for Gray to join them. The blacksmith absently noted, as he took the seat beside Jill, that she looked just as – if not more – pale as when she'd come in.

"Well," Tim began, staring at the papers in front of him, "All good news. The fainting was just the result of low blood pressure and Jill standing up too suddenly – it's really very normal at this time, and combined with the hot weather –"

"Normal at _what _time? She doesn't usually just go around fainting, you know."

With a small smile, Tim inclined his head towards Jill who hadn't broken eye contact with the wall since Gray had sat down. After a long moment, she slowly turned to face her fiancé, her expression mixed between a tearful smile and an almost blank confusion.

"I'm pregnant."

**xxx**

**Ohohoho. You knew I couldn't finish this baby (Eh? Eh?) without one last twist. Possibly too much information, but in my mind, the, uh... conceiving happened on the night Jill ran to Gray and they made up over the Veronica lie and he proposed, which, if you take Harvest Moon seasons into account, would make Jill about three months pregnant.**

**Thank you again, all of you. To the people who have reviewed without fail, you're wonderful. To the people who have been reading all along and haven't reviewed, now's probably the time to do it ;) but thanks to all of you as well, for giving Starting Over a chance.**

**See you in the epilogue!**


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